Tamers War
by Catgirl the Crazy
Summary: Runaway Locomon what-if. The battle with Parasimon strands Takato and Rika in the Digital World, and leaves Henry MIA. The remaining Tamers struggle to drive out the Parasimon. Yet the Parasimon were only the first wave of something much, much bigger...
1. Divergence Point

A/N: The first thing to know about this fic is that it is essentially an overly-long what-if story based on "Runaway Locomon." You don't need to have seen the movie to read this though. That's because this first chapter is essentially a novelization of the movie. You may think that's going over board, and you're probably right. However I couldn't really find a good point in the middle of the movie to start. Plus, it's helped me deal with writer's block.

That's not to say it's an exact copy of the movie; I've changed a number of the details and subtexts, some to fit the different medium, and some to set up certain elements that show up later in this story. If you don't particularly want to read through it all (you don't need to in order to get this story), you can skip ahead to Terriermon's "giant eyeballs" line in all-caps towards the end. This where the what-if part begins.

Oh, and a note about the characters' ages: The Digimon Wiki tells me this takes place about six months after the TV shows end (which makes sense given that they all look the same). Thus, canonically, the characters are supposed to still be 12 (I'm going with their ages in the dub). However, because I feel more comfortable writing older teenagers, I've aged them up to roughly 16 (Suzie is 11), meaning that this fic takes place about four years after the TV show ends.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Divergence Point**

It was mid-afternoon, on a lovely spring day. Rika was with her mother at the subway station. They were returning from a visit to Rika's aunt and uncle, outside the city. Rika was not in a particularly good mood at the time. Her aunt and uncle were fine, but kind of boring. Her two young cousins, though, were another story. They were both a couple of hyperactive brats who considered Rika their own personal jungle gym. Rika was glad the visit had ended after lunch, instead of lasting all day like they usually did.

The train station was unusually empty for a weekend. Then again, the ever popular cherry blossom festival was starting that day, and there weren't many trees in this particular part of Tokyo.

_At least Mom didn't try to through another dumb birthday party for me,_ she thought. Rika's mother always liked throwing enormous birthday parties for her daughter. Rika hated those kinds of parties. Too many people, half of whom she barely knew, all telling her how much she'd grown, and in general making her the center of attention. Not to mention the dresses Rumiko tried to put her in… It seemed that this year, her mother would finally respect her wishes.

Rika's phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and checked the caller ID. It was Takato. _Is there a Digimon in Shinjuku?_ she wondered. Or maybe he'd forgotten a school assignment. Now that she went to the same high school as the other Tamers, she got more calls like that.

She answered. "Hey Takato."

"Hey Rika," he said, soundly oddly nervous. "Listen, uh… Jeri asked me to call you and tell you that we're going down to the cherry blossom festival at Shinjuku Park today. Do you wanna come?"

Rika rolled her eyes. "Sitting around and watching pink flowers is stupid and a waste of time. Besides, it'll be crowded as hell, and we probably won't be able to find a spot."

"Uh, no, no, that's not exactly what I meant," he stammered. "Y'see..."

"What, then?" she demanded, irritation mounting. She bit her lip, trying to wait patiently for him to finally spit it out.

"Well, y'see, our plan was…" He told her.

Rika really did snap. "Nobody asked you to do this sort of thing! Besides, why did my family know before me?" In fact, she thought she knew why, but hoped she was wrong.

"Well… you see… You're always busy and… the truth is, today is your-"

In the background, Rika heard Guilmon exclaim "Takato!" Takato yelped, and there was a thud.

"Guilmon, I told you to hide!" She heard him hiss.

"Hold it Takato," Rika began. Despite her irritation, she couldn't help but smile a little, as she pictured what was happening on Takato's end of the phone. From the background noise, it sounded like they were in a crowded place. Whatever hiding place Takato had devised for Guilmon (it was usually a cardboard box), Guilmon was clearly not cooperating. _Probably got bored and decided to explore or something,_ Rika thought. _Typical really._

She then remembered she was supposed to be annoyed at him. "Listen gogglehead, it's really obvious what you're planning here, so just… forget it already. Okay?"

At that moment, a train whooshed past her. Rika knew instantly that it could not be a Tokyo train- it was brown, not silver. And the clatter of wheels on tracks sounded wrong. There was only one thing it could be. _A Digimon_.

"Gotta go," she told Takato, before putting her phone in her pocket and taking off after the train, ignoring her mother's calls.

Takato stared dumbfounded at his phone. Rika had just hung up on him all of a sudden. That was unlike her, especially since she'd been in the middle of lecturing him. _Why would she… ?_

Guilmon tugged at his sleeve. "Takato, look!" Takato looked in the direction his partner was pointing. A small crowd had gathered beneath one of the TV monitors in the subway, murmuring tensely.

There was a news report about a strange, runaway train making its why around the Tokyo tracks. Takato's eyes widened as a picture of it appeared on screen. _A Digimon._ According to the report it had just passed the station Rika was at. Now her abrupt hang up made all kind's of sense.

Another update flashed across the screen. It was headed towards Shinjuku train station, where Takato currently was.

"Come on Guilmon, we gotta go!"

"Yay! Fun!" Guilmon cheered, sprinting after his partner.

Takato ran towards the stairwell. Judging by the report, the train-Digimon would pass through the station on one of the above-ground tracks. He needed to get to the ground-level platform fast, and couldn't afford to wait for the elevator.

He sprinted up the stairs, two at a time. Pausing, he leaned over the railing and called, "Hurry up Guilmon!"

"Coming!" he called back. Takato heard two people yelp, evidently spotting his partner as he passed. _No time to worry about that now…_

They emerged onto the open-air platform seconds later. He could see the train Digimon barreling down the tracks, towards the station. There wasn't much time.

"Guilmon!" Takato pulled out his Digivice.

"Right! Guilmon Digivolve to… Growlmon!" Growlmon snarled and jumped onto the tracks, digging his enormous toe-talons into the dirt, bracing for the impact.

Half out of habit, Takato pulled out his D-Power and did a scan. To his surprise, a read-out came up. "I was right," he muttered to himself. "It _is_ a Digimon." Locomon, Ultimate level, the read-out read. All this transpired in about the second it took for Locomon to reach Growlmon.

"Nnngh!" Growlmon grunted, sliding backwards through the dirt. He grunted again and dug his heels in deeper. Locomon slowed to a crawl, but he continued to gain ground nonetheless.

"What… do you… think you're – Nrngh!-- doing?" Growlmon demanded through clenched teeth.

"I have to hurry," the Locomon replied in a monotone. His voice was a deep bass with a metallic echo to it. "I have to keep running."

_That it?!_ Takato thought incredulously. _After this trouble, he can't give a better reason than _that?!

At that moment, a whistling billow of smoke and steam whooshed out of Locomon's smokestack, and the wheels began to turn faster. Growlmon struggled to keep from losing more ground.

"He's so strong…" Takato gaped. He had once seen Growlmon stop a runaway subway train once with brute , when a group of Kokuwamon had cut the brakes as a practical joke. Growlmon had barely broken a sweat, and that train had been going over 80 mph. Now…

Pedestrians and commuters screamed, panicked, and began to flee as Growlmon started losing more and more ground. Finally, Growlmon lost his balance, crashed through the railing and crashing onto the platform below the tracks. Locomon began to pick up speed again, fast leaving the station.

There was no time to think properly. Takato hurtled over the platform railing and onto the tracks, dredging up every last microfiber of strength he could to catch up to the accelerating train. Finally he reached out his right hand and grabbed onto the railing on the platform at the end of the very last car.

Instantly, he realized his grip was terrible; he was holding on with just the ends of the fingers on. Terror swept him as for a brief moment, he was certain he would lose his grip and wind up a splattered mess on the train tracks.

Somehow, he managed to hold on just long enough to get a better grip with his left hand, and clamber over the railing onto the platform. The train was picking up speed now. He would not be able to get off without killing himself.

"Growlmon!" he called to his partner.

"Takato!" he called back, distressed that his partner was now getting away from him.

"Warn Henry and the others! We're gonna need their help!"

* * *

"Hey look at that train go!" Suzie cried excitedly as the mystery train whooshed past their train's window. Her exclamation was accompanied by murmuring from the other passengers, muttering about the mystery train's odd appearance and excessive speed.

"Maybe it's a freight train?" Henry mused aloud, frowning. They didn't usually go on the Metro Rail tracks, but it happened sometimes. But something about this bugged him.

"Perhaps a freight train decided to be an ambulance for a day?" Terriermon muttered. "Why else would it smash the speed limit to smithereens?"

"Hmmm… good point," Henry agreed. He left it at that. He would probably hear the full story on the news later that night.

They arrived and it occurred to him: a Digimon. Maybe that's what it was.

Henry considered ignoring the maybe-Digimon. He didn't want to have to skip out on Rika's surprise birthday party, only to find it was an ordinary train with brake problems or something. Plus, he would have to bring Suzie with him, and that was a distraction he didn't need in a fight. Not to mention explaining it to his parents later.

But it still nagged at him. No, it was more than nagging. He was certain of it now, though he couldn't explain way, even to him self.

"Henry!" Suzie pulled on his sleeve. "The Yamanote line is that way."

"No Suzie, we've got to head back to Shinjuku," he answered. Shinjuku was the direction the mystery train had been headed.

Suzie furrowed her eyebrows. "But aren't we supposed to meet up with Rika?"

"Well…" he began awkwardly. He knew his theory would sound supremely lame if he explained it aloud. Now almost 12, Suzie had recently started to enjoy poking fun at her big brother for things like that.

He was saved from answering by an announcer on the PA. "Due to technological malfunction, service on some Japan Railway lines has been halted until further notice. We apologize for the inconvenience." A list of the suspended railways appeared on the stations display screens. Henry studied the list, and then suppressed a groan. All the trains that could take him back to Shinjuku from this station were among the suspended ones.

_Technological malfunction? I suppose you could a runaway mystery train that…_ Henry thought. They needed to get to Shinjuku, but that would be a whole lot harder if the trains couldn't get them there.

"What should we do then. Henry?" Terriermon queried.

"Gimme a sec, I'm thinking…" he said. "Right, if we walk over to Ochanomizu Station, we can take the Marunouchi Line back to Shinjuku. Its not far, so Ochanamizu will probably be fastest."

"What, you mean we have to walk?" Suzie pouted.

* * *

Locomon thundered down the tracks as Takato crouched on the deck outside the last train. He really didn't have a plan. In fact, he was starting to deeply regret his decision to jump on board in the first place.

He knew nothing whatsoever about trains. Even in the unlikely event that Locomon had some kind of emergency brake, Takato had no idea what it could look like. It certainly wouldn't be identified by helpful signs, like it was on the subway. Nor did he know enough about train engines to disable one.

Plus, if Locomon could use his Digimon abilities to attack anyone who approached the front cars, Takato was royally screwed without Guilmon to protect him. He might be able to separate the rear cars by pulling the pin, but he couldn't count on that in a pinch.

_But what else can I do?_ He couldn't just sit around waiting for a cavalry that might not come in time. He might as well see what was up there.

Standing up, he opened the door to the last car, and entered. "This thing's like an antique," he muttered to himself, wandering down the aisle. The upholstered seats, curtain windows, and hardwood floor seemed like something out of a set in 19th century Europe. _Or is it 18__th__ century?_ he wondered. He was terrible at history.

He opened the door at the end of the car and stepped onto the platforms connecting it to the next car. Locomon hit a bump, and the entire train jolted sharply. Takato stumbled, fell, and the ground heaved towards him. A bolt of utter terror gripped him. He avoided splattering on the tracks by catching himself on the railing. As soon as he got his balance, Takato scrambled like hell into the next car, and collapsed on the nearest seat in a panting heap.

_Nothing like a little mortal terror to wake you up,_ he thought. Why was he putting himself through all of this insanity? What had possessed Locomon to simply run around crazy like this?

Once his heart no longer felt it would burst out of his ribcage for beating so hard, he got up and looked out the window. There were only three or four more train cars between him and the engine car.

"Something must have happened to provoke him…" Takato said to himself. "I gotta get up front and stop him. Somehow."

He moved towards the next car.

* * *

Rika panted, her legs pounding into pavement as hard as she could make them. She couldn't afford to lose time. The station was already in sight, but had the train Digimon already come and gone? Deciding to take a shortcut, Rika leaped over the railing on her left and slid down the grassy hill.

Reaching the sidewalk at the bottom, Rika peered through a chain-link fence at the track below. All seemed normal still. "Good," she said to herself, "It hasn't come through." She kept running, clambering up a set of stairs towards the station entrance.

Renamon appeared at her side. "Do you have a plan?"

"Of course not!" Rika retorted, still running. "I'll figure it out as I go!"

"As always," Renamon said, amusement in her voice as she faded away.

* * *

Henry trudged up the hill. His clever detour back to Shinjuku was seeming a little so now. This was mainly because the distance to Ochanomizu Station, which he remembered as being very short, happened to include a ginormous hill to end all ginormous hills.

"Uh, Henry?" Terriermon poked him in the side. "I hate to be the one to mention this, but we've got a problem."

Henry turned to see what he was looking at. Suzie was sitting cross-legged, her arms folded, on the sidewalk, the very epitome of a pouting child. "I'm tired!" she whined. "I'm tired, I'm hungry, my feet hurt, and not going any further!"

Henry clenched his teeth. She was 11 and getting too old to throw these kinds of tantrums. But since she was the youngest of four, their parents hadn't been trying as hard as they could to impress this fact upon her. Hence the childish behavior sometimes continued.

_Of all the times for her to act like this…_ No, he couldn't get angry with his sister now. If he told her to quit her whining, that would only get them bickering pointlessly, and he could not afford that.

Remembering his Tai Chi lessons, Henry took a few quiet deep breaths before crouching next to his sister. "You want a piggy back ride?"

Her face brightened. "Yeah!" Evidently she'd been gunning for something like this. He sighed. Giving in would only encourage her further, but he couldn't do anything about that now.

Suzie clambered onto his back, and he stood up with a grunt. She was much bigger and heavier than he remembered. _She's definitely getting too old for this._ He then felt two more weights clamber on to his shoulders.

"All aboard!" Terriermon called jokingly, while Lopmon imitated a train whistle.

Henry groaned. "You guys…"

"Yee! Choo choo!" Suzie squealed, kicking him somewhat painfully in the thighs.

"Listen," Henry said, trying to sound good natured. "This 'train' only takes one passenger, so no stowaways, kay?"

"Right." Terriermon still laughing, the two Digimon lept to the pavement.

"Hey , look over there!" Suzie exclaimed, pointing. The humor was gone from her voice, replaced by alarm.

Henry looked where she was pointing. An ominous-looking dark purplish cloud hung over downtown Tokyo.

"It's hanging over Ichigaya," Terriermon observed.

"It's a Digital Gate!" Lopmon exclaimed. Henry didn't know how she knew that, but decided to take her word for it.

"Is that Train Digimon responsible?" Suzie wondered. She was fairly quick on the uptake, when she wasn't acting childish or ditzy.

"Probably," Henry agreed. It couldn't be a coincidence, both appearing on the same day. "Whatever it is, we need to stop it. Let's get to the station." They took off at a run towards Ochanomizu.

"This day just gets more and more interesting," Terriermon muttered.

* * *

At the Operations Control Station for Japan Railways, frantic confusion ruled the moment.

"That one train won't stop," one operator said.

"Why not?" the head operator demanded. "Someone give me an explanation here!"

"I can't give you one," the operator replied, trying to maintain his calm. "What whatever it is likely dangerous."

The head operator gritted his teeth. What had he done to deserve this headache? "Order all trains and railways in the Tokyo Metropolitan region to stop!" _What on earth is going on here?_

The door to the operating room opened, and a light-haired man in his thirties, wearing a suit and sunglasses, entered.

The head operator glowered at the newcomer. "You don't have clearance to be here!" he snapped.

"Actually, I do," the newcomer replied calmly, flashing an ID card. "I'm temporarily taking control of operations here." The head operator read the name on the card.

Mitsuo Yamaki.

* * *

Henry panted with the effort of running and carrying his sister at the same time. Terriermon glided alongside him. "So, Mr. Genius, you gotta plan for when we get there?"

"Well, the news reports said that the train Digimon was running primarily on the tracks for the Kanjoh and Yamanote lines," Henry answered, panting. "They're both belt lines that go in a circle around the downtown Tokyo. If we don't stop them, the whole city'll be in trouble!"

* * *

Yamaki studied the map of the train lines projected onto the wall. All rail lines except for Kanjoh and Yamanote had been removed from the projection, to make things easier to read. A red dot symbolized the train Digimon, making his way around the circle.

"Hmmm, a spatial warp is appearing over Ichigaya," Yamaki murmured. "Interesting."

The head operator gave him a nervous look. "What do we do now?" he asked.

Yamaki ignored him, thinking. _An unknown entity, possibly a Digimon, is running in constant circles around central Tokyo,_ Yamaki thought. _And then a vortex-like warp in space appears in the middle._ It wasn't a coincidence, he was certain, though he didn't know if it was intentional on the train Digimon's part. Not that it mattered. Either way, it was dangerous.

His communications headset hummed, signaling an incoming call. He answered it. "Yamaki here."

"This is Riley. I've established the computer link, and am proceeding with the scan."

* * *

Kenta shifted the massive pile of presents in his arms to get a better grip. He grumbled to himself. _Why me?_ He was only trying to be nice when he'd offered to help prepare for Jeri's surprise party for Rika. Somehow, he'd managed to get landed with the task of carrying everyone's presents for Rika. Why they couldn't divide this task up, no one had satisfactorily explained.

To top things off, all subways lines had been abruptly closed with no explanation at all. Now, he would have to _walk_ all the way to Shinjuku…

"Hey, Kenta!" a voice behind him called. Kenta turned, and peered around the massive pile of presents to see Kazu and Guardromon running towards.

"Hey Kazu!" /Kenta called happily. You can help me carry this stuff."

Kazu, not appearing to hear him, paused to catch his breath. "We've been looking for you guys everywhere."

Kenta and MarineAngemon exchanged puzzled looks. Suddenly, MarineAngemon began to gibber and flap his arms wildly, gesturing at something behind Kazu and Guardromon. The all turned, and saw Guilmon staggering towards them, and then collapse on the sidewalk, exhausted.

Kenta shoved the pile of presents into Guardromon hands as they all ran towards him.

"Guilmon! You okay buddy?" Kazu asked, worriedly.

"I tried, but Locomon was too strong," he muttered.

Kazu and Kenta exchanged worried glances. "Where's Takato nnow?"

"I think…" Guilmon groaned. "He's still on Locomon."

Their jaws dropped. "On Locomon?!"

* * *

Takato opened the train car door, and smiled. He'd reached the fuel car, and was getting close to his goal. He clambered up a ladder onto the top the coal car, and began crawling across it towards the engine car.

He tried to mentally block out everything except reaching his goal, but it was hard. Locomon's slipstream constantly pushed and pulled at him, an the mountain of coal he was crawling on provided an insecure grip to hold onto. Every time he looked sideways, he saw the scenery blurring past him, and couldn't stop himself from envisioning what would happen if he were to slip and fall.

He managed to reach the engine car without incident. He entered the engine car. The good news was that nothing was attacking him, as he'd feared. The bad news was that he had absolutely no idea what any of the levers or instruments there did, as he'd feared.

"Uhhh…" He reached towards a lever at random, but stopped. He had no idea what it would do; it could derail the train and get him killed. _This could be a problem._

* * *

Rika peered over the bridge railing. Locomon was fast approaching. _Good timing,_ she thought. Renamon appeared beside her.

"Let's do this, Renamon." Rika went back a few steps, took a running start, and leapt over the railing onto the train below. Mid-fall, Renamon appeared beside her and caught her, helping her to make a soft landing on the coal car. _Wow, I can't believe that suicidal stunt actually worked,_ she thought.

She leapt off the coal car and into the engine room below. Someone was already there.

"What're you doing here, gogglehead?"

Takato turned as Renamon phased in behind her. "Rika! Renamon!" he said, surprised but happy. Given what he'd pulled on her earlier with the surprise party, she wasn't particularly happy to see him at that moment.

"No time for chit chat, we gotta stop this thing," Rika said brusquely, pushing past towards the engine, and began to fiddle with valves and levers at random.

"I- I know that," Takato said, sound distressed and somewhat hurt at her brush off. He pulled a Digimon card out of his pocket and held it up. "I, I was gonna use this card, but…"

"Guilmon isn't here?' queried Renamon.

"No, we got separated."

Rika took the card from him and examined it. "Hm. That could work. You mind?" It wasn't really a request. Without waiting for a response, she swiped it through her Digivice. "Digi-modify! Shellmon's Hydro Pressure, activate!"

"Get back," Renamon ordered. As Takato and Rika complied, Renamon pointed her arms towards Locomon's furnace. Twin jets of waters blasted from her fists. It vaporized instantly, filling the room with waves of hot steam.

"Hot!" Takato yelped, trying to fan it away from his face.

When it cleared, nothing seemed to have changed. "We'll need a lot more water than that to put a furnace that hot." Renamon said.

"Sorry," Takato apologized to Rika. "Guess it didn't work."

Rika went back to fiddling with the controls. "Hmph. That's not the only thing you should be apologizing for."

"Wha-?" It took Takato a second to realize what she meant. "Oh, that. Well, uh… you see… Jeri really wanted to throw a party for you, and I--"

"Yeah, yeah, I already figured out that much," Rika interrupted irritably. She'd realized from the start that this was Jeri's idea, but she was still mad at the rest of them for going along with it.

"Yeah, well, and you're always so busy, and…" Takato continued awkwardly.

"Alright, enough already," Rika said, cutting him off again. "Lets just concentrate on stopping this thing, kay?!"

"Oh! Uh, right!" said Takato.

At that moment they heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching. The three peer out the side of the train, and saw a familiar face approaching.

"Beelzemon!" Takato exclaimed.

"Jus' leave dis ta me," he grunted. Pulling level with Locomon's engine, he unholstered one of his shotguns and aimed for the train's wheels.

"Double Impact!" He fired, but to no effect. He aimed for the engine car itself, with the same results.

A spike popped out of Locomon's side. "Wheel Grinder!" the train cried. The spike impaled his motorcycle, sending Beelzemon tumbling off as the bike shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Beelzemon!" Takato cried as the friend fell out of sight.

* * *

Yamaki glanced at one of the TV screens they'd set up in the control room. The rift was getting worse. A funnel cloud had formed, connecting the anomaly in the sky. It wasn't moving, nor was it causing significant damage to anything it wasn't directly touching. But he could not assume that that would last.

His headset hummed again. "Yes?"

"It's me," Riley said through the speakerphone. "I've completed the analysis."

"What've you got for me?"

"I've confirmed your theory. It is a Digimon, an Ultimate level called Locomon."

"And the spatial anomaly?"

"It's comprised of highly concentrated Digital Particles, sir," she answered. "The particles seem to be emanating solely from Locomon, and coming together to form the vortex over Ichigaya." Digital particles were the same particles that made up the white, mist-like Digital Fields that appeared every time a Digimon Bio-Emerged. Those particles condensed during Bio-Emergence, and formed the Digimon's physical body.

"Sir, the concentration of the particles in the Digital Zone are off the charts," Riley continued. "If Locomon does this much longer, the Digital Zone will turn into a full-fledged gateway between the Digital and Real Worlds."

Yamaki thought fast. "We could use that to send Locomon back to the Digital world, if we can reroute the tracks to send him to Ichigaya." Even if they didn't manage to send him through the gate, getting him of the current belt route would probably be enough to disperse the Digital Zone.

The head operator shook his head. "Power is on the fritz around the- whatever the hell that tornado thing is. We can't change the tracks."

"Then do it manually," Yamaki said simply.

"But that'll take-" The head operator started to object, but seemed to think better of it. "Right. Where should we do the change?"

Yamaki scanned the map, and then pointed. "Here. Yoyogi Station."

* * *

Henry panted as he ran down the street, Lopmon close at his heels. Behind him a familiar voice called his name.

"Yo! Henry! Over here!" Henry turned, and saw Kazu, Kenta, their respective Digimon and Guilmon appear out of an alleyway.

Relief washed over him, along with the beginnings of a new plan. Things might be easier now.

"You guys!" he called back, meeting up with them. "We've gotta find a way to get on board that Digimon as fast as possible."

"Tch! We know that," Kazu said impatiently. "Takato's already on board."

Henry gave Guilmon a confused look. "Then why are you here?"

"Locomon was too strong for me to stop as Growlmon," Guilmon explained, looking somewhat dejected. "So he got away from me."

"Huh," said Henry. "Well, we need to catch up with Locomon as soon as possible."

"Uh, in case you haven't noticed chumley, Locomon's kinda, y'know, _faster_ than we are..." Kazu replied sarcastically.

Henry glanced around, and spotted a bright yellow rail car on the tracks next to the sidewalk. "We can use that," he said, pointing. "If Guardromon pushes, we should be able to get there in time."

"You can't count on me," Guardromon said, sounding enthused.

Kazu and Kenta both nodded their approval. Then Kazu gave him an odd look, and pointed at Lopmon. "Uh, where's Terriermon?"

"Oh, uh…" Henry rubbed the back of his head, sheepish. "I kinda got… mixed up."

_

* * *

Elsewhere…_

Terriermon sulked on a bench at Ochanomizu Station. "Stupid Henry…" he muttered. "How could he get us mixed up?!"

"It's alright, Terriermon," Suzie said cheerfully.

* * *

Yamaki watched as the red dot representing Locomon began it's fourth lap around the tracks. It would reach Yoyogi in half an hour at its current speed. The rail workers should have finished changing the tracks by then, but they would be cutting it close.

Suddenly, one of the operators stood up abruptly. "We have a problem sir! I just got a call from Tamachi Station! They say there are children on board Locomon!"

The head operator gaped. "That can't be possible!"

"One of the station attendants saw it sir," the operator replied. "There's no doubt about it!"

"Children, huh?" Yamaki muttered to himself.

* * *

"So what should we do now?" Takato wondered.

Rika shrugged. "Heck if I know." The pair of them plus Renamon had retreated to Locomon's foremost passenger car, where they could discuss their next course of action without having to shout at each other over all of the noise. Said discussion was going nowhere fast.

At that moment, Rika's cell phone rang. She answered it. "Hello?" She listened for a few seconds; Takato couldn't tell who she was talking to. It didn't sound like her mother. Rika scowled, and wordlessly handed the phone to him.

Takato was surprised by this, but took it. "Hello?"

"Takato?" The voice was familiar.

"Yamaki!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, it's me," Yamaki replied. "I have a question for you. A railroad worker spotted a couple of children on board Locomon. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Uh, yeah, actually, that would be me and Rika," Takato replied. He didn't know why he felt so sheepish. Being a Tamer, he and Rika had every right to be there.

"I thought it was one of you guys," Yamaki answered. "Listen, Locomon is headed towards the Soubu line. We've set the tracks at Yoyogi Station so Locomon will change to the Sobu Rail line tracks. This will essentially send him into the Digital Field and hopefully back to the Digital World. You need to get off before that happens, which will be soon. Got that?"

"Yeah."

"Good." The call ended. Takato flipped the phone shut.

"Well, sounds like we can let Yamaki handle this," he said cheerfully, and proceeded to relate what Yamaki had said.

"Hmph." Rika scowled when he finished. "So what?"

"So what… ?" Takato gaped. "Well, Guilmon's not here, so its not like there's anything else we can do…"

Rika snorted. "What, can't you do anything without his help?" She turned abruptly and went back towards the engine car. "Besides, when have Yamaki's plans ever worked without our help? I'm taking care of this one myself."

Takato stared after her as she shut the car door behind her. _What's her problem?_

* * *

Henry, Kazu, Kenta, and their assorted Digimon clambered onto the yellow train car. Kazu leaned out the window, grinning like an idiot. _High speed chase, here we come._

"Yo, Guardromon, you ready?" he called to his partner, who was behind the car, preparing to push it.

"Aye aye, Captain!" Guardromon replied, doing a mock salute.

"Then let's go!" Kazu cheered.

* * *

Rika clambered down the coal car ladder and back into the engine car. _I'll show them,_ she thought._ I'll stop this damn train by myself._

She spotted an enormous wrench lying next to the furnace, half as long as she was tall. _Perfect._ She didn't feel like being clever right now. She lifted it and started to swing…

The furnace door swung open, and _something_ shot out at her, not even giving her time to yell.

* * *

Kazu looked out the train car window again and frowned. They were going too slow. They would never catch up at this rate.

"Yo, Gaurdromon!" he shouted. "Little more speed!"

"You could say please," his partner muttered, but complied nonetheless.

* * *

Rika's cell phone rang again from Takato's pocket. He looked at the caller ID. It was Yamaki. "Hey Yamaki," he said, answering it.

"Listen, Takato, you need to get off that train, _now,_" Yamaki said sternly. "You don't have much time."

"Rika's still trying to stop him, and I think it's still possible-" Takato began, but Yamaki cut him off.

"I don't care, just get off that train!" he snapped. "We had to change the tracks manually, so we can't change them back if you don't get off in time."

"Ok, ok, I get it!" Takato said defensively. "Look we can always disconnect the cars if we're cutting it too close. Besides, I doubt we'd be able to get off at this speed anyway."

"Fine." Yamaki sounded tired. "Call this number when you're off."

He hung up. Rika had come back in to the train car while he'd been talking. "Hey Rika, I was just talking to Yamaki.," Takato said brightly.

Rika said nothing. Renamon frowned. "Rika?"

"Anyway, I bought us a little more time to see if we can stop Locomon ourselves," Takato continued, not noticing. "But we still have to get off soon, or else we'll wind up going through the Digital Gate…" Takato kept talking, not aware that Rika was really listening to him. In fact she wasn't really there at all…

* * *

Rika wandered through the grey mist. In the distance she could here the sound of a guitar playing. The tune was slow, and somber, like a love song. The mist cleared and gave way to form- she was in an apartment living room.

It was small, and cramped. There was barely room to walk, what with a couch in the middle and bookshelves lining the wall. The floor was strewn with so much dirty laundry and other detritus that you could barely make out the dingy gray-white carpet underneath. The shelves were so laden with things, they seemed to lean in precariously

Behind her was the door, and the kitchen, which was also small, and separated from the rest of the room by a counter rather than a wall. The kitchen was the one spotless part of the whole place. On either side were doors to various bedrooms and the bathroom.

But in front of her was the view that had caught her attention from the very beginning, had always caught her attention every time she saw it.

The most glorious sunset, shimmering molten red-gold over the city-skyline along the mountain ridge.

The guitar strumming grew louder, like tuning into a radio station. Someone was sitting on the couch playing. A much smaller figure bounced on the couch humming loudly along with the tune, only sometimes getting the notes right.

The song ended. "I wanna play it this time Daddy!" a shrill, eager young voice demanded.

"Daddy?" Rika murmured to herself. And then she was five again, sitting on her father's lap. The guitar, twice her size, was perched on her lap. Her left hand clutched on the body, her right the neck, to keep it from sliding off her knees.

Her father guided her right hand over the guitar's neck, showing her where to place her fingers on the frets, while showing which string to strum with her left to play each note of the song. It was strenuous work- her hands were so tiny, it was a strain to reach them around the neck to press down the strings.

Yet it seemed almost magical to her, that she could recreate the sounds of the song she loved so much, all under her own power.

The music-lesson ended. The sunset was over, and night had fallen. Her parents were in their bedroom. The words were indistinct through the walls. But Rika knew the pattern of sounds too well.

She was perched on the couch guitar in her lap. She had been plucking out strings at random, trying to 'write' songs like her father did. But she hadn't touched the strings for some minutes. Her eyes stung ferociously with suppressed tears, but she stubbornly refused to cry. She would _not_ cry. They could come out at any moment, and if they knew she could her them, they would fuss over her and apologize. Rika hated that more than anything. She would _not_ cry.

She stood outside the apartment complex, clutching her mother's hand. Her mind was in a terrified confusion. Her mother had told her to pack her bags with some clothes and anything else she needed. She only packed her bags if they were going on vacation or to visit relatives. But her mother was crying. She would never do that if the were going on a trip. _And her and daddy were yelling really loud today…_

A car drove up, Rika's grandmother in the driver's seat. The got in, none of them saying a word. Rika sat perfectly still, afraid to disturb something. The guitars and sunsets were gone from her daily life.

* * *

"Uh… Rika?" Takato said uncertainly. "Are you feeling ok?" It was only then that he had noticed the eerily blank expression on her face. The enormous wrench she swung from side to side creeped him out exponentially more.

Rika didn't respond. She just brushed past him and Renamon. "Rika?" He reached out his hand to grab her shoulder. Without any warning she swung the wrench at him. Only Renamon's lightning reflexes pulled him out of the way in time. Without missing a beat, Rika swung again, and Takato dodged again. Instead, she shattered the seat right behind him into a thousand pieces.

"Rika, what're you-?!" he yelped, scrambling away from her as fast as possible. Terror and horror and a dozen other related emotions he couldn't name gripped him. Rika Nonaka was trying to kill him. To _kill_ him. She had been pissed at him, sure, but this was out of nowhere. Something was seriously wrong here.

Renamon leapt in front of him, crouching in a defensive pose. "You're wrong," she said tersely. "This isn't Rika."

"Wha-?" spluttered Takato.

"Don't interfere," Rika said in a dull monotone. "I just want to play my guitar."

She raised the wrench to swing again.

* * *

Guilmon peered over the edge of the hole. Locomon was coming fast. "Weee," he said to himself. He crouched down into the hole, leaving only his tail sticking up. He'd dug the hole deep enough so Locomon could pass above him without touching him.

He counted the cars as they passed over head. "Wait for it… Wait for it…" As the last car rushed past, Guilmon grabbed onto the back with his tail. "Got iiiiit!" He squealed, letting himself be whisked off by the train like a kite.

* * *

"Good work, Guardromon!" Kazu called to his partner. "We're catching up."

Guardromon merely grunted in response. Kenta visored his eyes as they came up on another station. "Oi! We're comin' up on Yoyogi now!"

A handful of rail workers yelped and scrambled off the track as they passed.

"Hey, dudes! How's it goin'?" Kazu called jokingly as they passed.

Two small figures jumped up and down on the station platform, waving at them. "Yo, Lopmon!" Henry called up to his sister's partner on the roof. "Here's your stop!"

"Right." Lopmon leapt off the train into Suzie's outstretched arms. At the same time Henry reached a hand out to his partner.

"Grab on!" he called.

Terriermon extended an ear. "It's about friggen time," he said good humouredly as Henry pulled him onto the train.

Once everyone was in order, Henry looked ahead. They were starting to pull alongside of Locomon. Guilmon was pulling himself onto the rear platform of Locomon's rear car.

"Hey there Guilmon!" Kazu waved as they passed.

"Hey guys!" Guilmon waved happily.

"We're going on ahead!" Terriermon called.

Guilmon nodded. "I gotta find Takato," they heard him say to himself. "Pyro Sphere!" He blasted the rear door open and went in. "Takato?" they heard him calling.

"Gee, that was subtle," Kenta said dryly.

"How'd he manage to get on board anyway?" Kazu wondered aloud.

At that precise moment, one of the windows on Locomon shattered (exploded?) as Renamon came flying out. With lightning reflex, Guardromon let go of the train car, flew out and grabbed her before she could fall, and then alighted back on top of their yellow train car. Everyone crowded around them. Renamon looked more than a little beat up, which was worrisome.

"What happened?" Kazu asked.

"It's Rika…" she said weakly.

* * *

Rika swung the wrench repeatedly, smashing chair after chair as Takato scrambled away from her. It was all he could do to avoid getting his skull or shoulders bashed in. He backed up against the door at the end of the car.

"Stop it Rika, please!" he pleaded. She continued advancing, wordless and expressionless. She didn't even seem to notice he was talking to her.

_This is insane!_ He thought. There was nowhere he could run to on the train, and he couldn't get off, not at this speed. Without Renamon to protect him, he wouldn't be able to avoid her forever. It felt like a nightmare… What could he do?! There had to be someway to bring her to her senses!

He opened the door and scrambled out onto the platform connecting the two cars. She followed him and swung again. He dodged, but stumbled and fell. She swung again, and he rolled out of the way just in time. His head was now hanging over the edge of the platform, just inches from the tracks rushing by impossibly fast below.

He realized that leaving the train car was probably the single dumbest thing he could possibly have done. Out here, he had to worry about both death by wrench _and_ death by falling of. She swung again, but missed and hit the railing directly over his head instead.

Takato took the opportunity to scramble to the door to the next car… except the handle was missing, so he couldn't open it. Rika must have bashed it off when she was swinging at him earlier. "Damn it…"

There was a ladder fixed to the wall next to the door. With nowhere else to go, Takato clambered up it onto the train car roof. As he climbed, he felt the wrench strike just inches below his feet.

He took a brief two seconds to catch his breath on the roof before looking behind him. The bad news was Rika had followed him up there. The good news was she no longer had the wrench (she would have needed both hands free to climb up the ladder). The even worse news was that there was absolutely nothing to keep him from falling off the train's curved roof, making it a lot easier for her to kill him.

It was at that precarious moment that his (technically Rika's) phone decided to ring. _Crap._ Reflexively, he answered it. It sounded like Yamaki, demanding to know what was going on-

Suddenly, a laser beam shot from behind Rika and blasted the phone right out of his hand. _Wait- Laser beams?!_

"Rika! What the hell's going on?!" he yelled, backing away from her as she advanced.

"Don't interfere…" she said in that monotone. "I just want to play… my guitar…"

"Damn it, Rika, wake up!" he said desperately. "We're gonna wind up in the Digital World if you don't snap out of it!"

"Takato! I found you!" A familiar voice called from somewhere below him.

Takato looked down. The laser had blasted a hole clean through the roof of the car. Through it, he could see Guilmon waving at him from inside the car. "Guilmon!" he said, feeling relieved. He was saved…

At the same time, he saw Henry, Kazu, Kenta, and their respective partners pull up along side in canary yellow train car. "Yo!" Kazu called. "What the hell are you to _doing_ up there?!"

Below, Takato could hear his partner muttering to himself. "Hmmm…. Right about there… Pyro Sphere!" The fireball blasted upward through the roof, right behind Rika.

"Guilmon, what the hell are you-?!" He stopped mid-sentence as he saw it. Ten spindly, spider-like legs appeared on Rika's back, curling around either side of her torso.

* * *

"Rika!" Renamon called, trying to stand up.

"What the-" Kazu swore colorfully.

Henry did a scan with his Digivice. A picture of a pinkish, spider-like creature appeared, with one enormous eye instead of a head. "Parasimon, Parasite Digimon. Mega-level." He frowned. "But… what's it doing _here?_"

Terriermon pointed. "Hey, look! Another one!"

Perched on top of Locomon's back, a second Parasimon materialized. The good hear him chuckling to himself.

"Damn- Parasimon must be controlling Locomon!" Henry said. "He's the one responsible for all of this!"

"Gotta hurry…" Locomon intoned. "Gotta keep going…"

On top on Locomon, Takato rose unsteadily to his feet. "Damn it- Let Rika go!"

"I want… to play my guitar…" she murmured.

* * *

People were shouting at the Operations Center. "Sir, it just passed through Shinagawa!"

Yamaki ground his teeth. They were running out of time. "How long til they're done at Yoyogi?" he demanded.

"I just got the call, sir," said another operator. "They've finished setting the tracks."

Yamaki sighed. The reports said that Takato and Rika were still on board the train. Unless they got of in the next few minutes, they had a one-way ticket back to the Digital World. _We can't wait for them,_ he thought to himself. _I'm gonna have to trust that they know what they're doing…_

* * *

"Come on, snap out of it Rika!" Takato pleaded, with no effect. The Parasimon extended a few feelers, and fired a purple laser beam in Takato's direction.

"Crap!" Takato lunged out of the way, only to have a second laser shot at him. "Crap again!" Except this time, his foot slipped, and he went tumbling over the edge of the train roof. His hands flailed about for something- anything- to save him from death- and by some miracle his right hand latched on to the ledge of the train car roof.

A horrible wrenching pain shot up and down his right arm as Locomon's slipstream pulled and pulled at him, making his body flap like a streamer in the wind. It honestly felt like his arm would be ripped out of its socket, if he didn't lose his grip first.

Rika loomed over him, her eyes utterly devoid of emotion. Takato closed his eyes. Despair clutched at him. There was no chance of him pulling himself up now. The Parasimon on her back would probably try to shoot his hand with one of the lasers so Takato would, if he didn't use it to kill him outright.

"Rika stop!" he heard Renamon plead desperately. His heart sank further. She sounded distant enough that he couldn't expect help from that quarter in time. _Maybe I should let go now,_ he thought. Better to end it quickly, than let it get drawn out.

* * *

Yamaki flicked his lighter open and shut in rapid succession. "It's reached Yoyogi!" an operator announced. "Following the new route now!"

Yamaki chewed on his lips. There was absolutely nothing he could do at that point but hope for the best. He hated that. The cap of his lighter finally snapped, from being open and shut so much. _Good god, I wish I had cigarette,_ he thought irritably. Syupid Riley, for getting him to quit…

* * *

Takato was still debating whether to end things on his own terms, when, out of nowhere, a wonderfully familiar red shape appeared behind Rika. "Rock Breaker!" Guilmon slashed at the Parasimon with the side of his open hand, shattering it into nothing. Rika collapsed in a heap on top of the train car.

Takato wasn't sure whether to be overjoyed, or pissed—at himself. He had completely forgotten his partner was on board. Had Guilmon come even a fraction of a second later, Takato would have moronically consigned himself to martyrdom- for no good reason at all.

Not wasting any time, Guilmon rushed over to Takato and hauled him up. Takato panted as heart throbbed in his ribcage, and he massaged his sore-beyond-all-belief right arm. "Thanks buddy," he panted.

He glanced at Rika. She was unconscious. He frowned. _That can't be good…_ Suddenly, Locomon hit a bump in the tracks, and the whole train jolted. Takato grabbed onto Guilmon, and managed to hold steady.

Rika however, slowly began to roll towards the edge of the roof. "RIKA!" Reacting instinctively, Takato lunged. Rika screamed as she started to tumble off of Locomon's roof- the jostling had apparently roused her too late.

Somehow Takato managed to grab onto her wrist, and braced himself against the roof, to keep her weight from pulling him off too. Guilmon grabbed him around the middle, further anchoring them. His right arm protested painfully at being abused in the same way for the second time in less than a minute.

"Takato!" She sounded more surprised than anything. He couldn't reply though. He didn't have the strength to pull her up with one arm, and his left hand was occupied with trying to keep himself from sliding of the roof. Despite his best efforts, though, his right hand, slippery with sweat and exhausted from his earlier brush with this same ledge, was starting to lose its grip on her. Worse, in spite of having Guilmon to steady him, he could feel both of them were sliding, millimeter by millimeter, closer to the edge of the roof.

Apparently, Rika was aware of it too. "Just let go of me!" she said, half pleading. "Otherwise, we'll both-"

"Like hell I will, you idiot!" Takato snapped. "Why do always have to try to be a damn martyr?! Don't give up, cuz I won't let you!" Less than a minute ago, Takato had nearly let himself get killed stupidly because of that sort of thinking. He would be damned if he was gonna let Rika succumb to it.

Rika was so taken aback a by Takato's uncharacteristic assertiveness, that she shut up at once.

Yet despite Takato resolute words, Rika had still had a point. Takato's whole upper torso was now hanging over the edge of the train roof, meaning he was completely incapable of pulling Rika up; he was a dead weight now. Guilmon was trying to pull them up, but Takato and Rika's combined weight was too much for him.

The train window immediately below Rika opened, and Renamon leaned out. "Renamon!" Rika cried, relieved.

"Hurry Renamon!" Takato yelled, as his grip slipped even further. Renamon grabbed Rika around the middle.

"I've got her!" Renamon called. With a groan, Takato let go of Rika's arm, and Renamon pulled her into the carriage.

"Thanks Renamon. And remind me to thank Gogglehead for being so damn stubborn," Rika told her partner while massaging her arm. Renamon nodded wordlessly. The train jolted again, and Rika felt them begin to slow down. Rika leaned her head out the window and swore. "Damn it… Locomon's disconnected the passenger cars!"

There was no time to waste, Rika began a mad sprint for the front cars. _Gotta catch him before he's too far a way for me to jump…_

"Wait, Rika!" Renamon called after her, but Rika didn't hear. Renamon tried to stop her, but the pain from her injuries was too much, and she collapsed to one knee instead.

No sooner had Rika opened the door to the next train car, when a hundred gray tentacles lashed out at her from within. With a yelp, she tried to back off, but it was too late.

From the roof of the train car behind her, Takato watch in horror as his friend was pulled inside. "Rika!" He leapt to the roof of the next car, and sprinted in the direction that they had taken her. He might be able to head them off faster than if he had gone inside the train car himself.

"Takato, get it off me!" he heard her calling from somewhere below him. "Let me go, you slimy green, bug-eyed-!"

"I'm coming!" he called back, still sprinting. "You ready Guilmon?" He didn't need to look back to know that his partner was just a few paces behind him.

"Ready," Guilmon growled.

They had reached the end of the last passenger car. The gap between them and the disconnected coal car was slowly getting wider. Without stopping to think, Takato leapt. "Biomerge Activate!"

"Guilmon Biomerge to-!"

The familiar sensation of merging overtook him. For a moment, he could see nothing but light, then…

"Gallantmon!" With a grunt, they landed on top of Locomon's coal car. Perched on top of the engine in front of them was Parasimon, Rika clutched in one of his tentacles.

"Let Rika go," Gallantmon snarled.

"Takato!" Rika cried.

"Heh heh… you look tasty…" Parasimon chuckled. On a creepiness scale of 1 to 10, he ranked at 17.

Gallantmon charged, and was met with a barrage of Parasimon's tentacles pushing him back. Gallantmon grunted, using his shield to deflect them as he pushed forward. Finally, he got close enough that, with a slash of his lance, he was able to free her.

Parasimon howled in pain, while Rika yelped, and started to fall.

Renamon, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, caught her before the train's momentum sent her flying off the tracks.

"Are you ok?" the fox-Digimon asked, wiping off bits of severed tentacle.

Rika smiled weakly at her partner. "I am now."

Gallantmon glared at Parasimon. "This was all his doing. He was trying to control both Rika and Locomon."

Parasimon merely sneered.

"But thanks to him, we got to hear a beautiful song," Renamon murmured quietly. Rika blushed slightly.

Gallantmon lunged forward and kicked Parasimon square in the chest, shattering most of its exoskeleton. "So this is just our way of saying… THANKS!" He raised his lance. "Lightning Joust!" He lunged and stabbed Parasimon smack in the middle of his single eyeball.

Parasimon recoiled back, and wailed and writhed in agony. Then he stopped, motionless. Gallantmon frowned. _He isn't disappearing, so we haven't killed him. Then why…?_ Parasimon started shaking. _Wait a second, _Takato thought feeling uneasy. _Is he _laughing? The creepiness level had been upped to 23.

"I've won…" Parasimon muttered in between chuckles. "Heh, I've won! Now Parasimon will run forever!"

"This is bad…" Guilmon said uneasily. Still laughing, a long, thin, white strand of… something shot from Parasimon's rear end towards the dark red cyclone shaped digital zone that loomed ever closer in front of them.

"Come on down!" Parasimon shouted. Defying all laws of physics, the strand arced upwards towards where the vortex connected with a similarly colored cloud in the sky.

"The digital zone!" Rika cried.

_

* * *

Elsewhere…_

Riley stared in horror at the readouts on her Hypnos terminal. "We have a code red! Multiple Wild-Ones are bio-emerging through the Digital Zone!"

"What did you say?" Yamaki demanded over the communications line.

_

* * *

A few miles away…_

From the train station platform where Henry had left her, Suzie stared at the vortex in wonder.

"Hey Lopmon, what's that?" she asked, pointing.

Her partner stared at the phenomenon. "Looks bad," she murmured, sounding worried.

* * *

"Um, guys?" Kenta asked, peering apprehensively through the window of the Guardromon- powered freight train car. "Does that look normal?"

"I'm not sure," Terriermon said with false uncertainty. "DO GIANT EYEBALLS FALLING FROM THE SKY LOOK NORMAL TO YOU?!"

Sure enough, dozens- maybe hundreds- of the bug-eyed Parasimon were descending from the vortex on thin white ropes, like spiders.

"Now it makes sense," Henry said, half to himself, as he stared at the Digimon. "This is what they were planning."

"Who, Henry?" Terriermon asked.

"Parasimon was using Locomon to create a Digital Zone," he explained. "That way, he could bring the other Parasimon to the Real World."

"So, what, he and his buddies could take over the real world or something?" Kazu asked.

Henry shrugged. "Probably."

"Can't he come up with something more original?" Terriermon complained.

"Hey, uh guys?" Kenta said nervously. "Locomon's getting kinda close to that Digital Zone thing. Shouldn't Takato and Rika be getting off around now?"

* * *

Gallantmon glowered at the parasite Digimon. "We won't let you get away with this!" He lunged. Parasimon dodged and scuttled onto the side of Locomon's engine. Gallantmon growled and tried to knock him off with his lance. But whenever he pried one leg off the side, it reattached itself before he could get to any of the others.

"Electric Bind!" Parasimon spewed white webbing at him. Gallantmon flinched as it covered him, then howled as it sent waves of electricity through his body.

"Renamon!" Rika cried, trying to maintain her balance while standing on the moving train. "We gotta Biomerge and help him!" Renamon didn't move, staring straight ahead. "What're you waiting for?!" she demanded. She looked ahead to see what her partner was staring at, and then swore mentally.

_Damnit, when did the vortex get so _close? She estimated that they had less than two minutes before they hit that thing and it sent them to the Digital World. "Takato! Gallantmon!" she screamed. "We gotta get offa here!"

Takato grunted as he managed to shake off the last of the webbing. _That stuff _hurts, he thought. Then he realized something. "Hey, where'd Parasimon go?" The Digimon was nowhere to be seen. Rika was screaming something at him. He couldn't make out what over the roar of Locomon's engines…

Then he saw it. Somehow, when he wasn't looking, the Digital Zone had gotten a _lot_ closer. _…_

He glanced over the side of the side of the car; his insides clenched when he saw how fast they were going.

_Do you think we could jump off the side?_ Guilmon asked nervously, so that only he could hear.

_I don't know_, Takato admitted. _A human couldn't survive that, but as a Digimon…_ There was no way to know, and no time to find out. He weighed his options quickly, as he'd learned to do in his fights with other Digimon and the D-Reaper. He didn't want to go to the Digital World again if he could help it. But on the other hand, he at least knew they _could_ come back from there, difficult as it was. There was no coming back if they got splattered all over the train tracks.

_We'll have to take our chances in the Digital World_, he told his partner. He glanced at Rika and Renamon. The latter seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

"Brace yourselves!" Renamon cried before yanking a protesting Rika down onto the roof of Locomon's engine, clinging to both for dear life.

Gallantmon crouched down and jammed his lance into the gap between the coal car and the engine, hoping it would be enough to keep him from falling off.

It was the longest thirty seconds of Takato's life, as he waited for them to reach the vortex. Then the world around him vanished.

* * *

A/N: So there you have it. Please review!

**Comments on the changes I made from the original movie: **

The most significant, you may have noticed, was Rika's visions of her father while she was possessed by the Parasimon. The reason for this was primarily due to problems of translation from animation to fan fic. While the singing scene in the movie is extremely well done, I didn't feel I could translate that into writing without feeling like Rika was being massively OOC. Even if that weren't the case, simply typing the lyrics wouldn't convey the song's melody or accompaniment. As a music lover, who does a lot of vocal and choral music, I don't feel that you could separate those aspects of a song and still adequately convey it in writing.

So I changed it to memories of her dad and his guitar, to keep the general music theme.

**A few notes about the story in general:**

I've been working on this fic for well over a year, and it's turned into one of the most colossal projects I've ever written. Why did it take so long to post this first chapter? Well, initially, I decided I wasn't going to post this until I had a fairly clear idea in my mind of how it would end. I am now breaking that promise, because I really don't know what's going to happen after the halfway point. But I've spent so much time on this, I didn't want to have no one read it. So here it is!


	2. Chaos Breaking

**Chapter 2: Chaos Breaking**

It took Yamaki a few seconds to sort through the simultaneous reports coming through his headset and from the people around him.

"Sir, Locomon has just entered the Digital Zone!" Riley said rapidly. "The Zone is starting to disappear, and new wild ones have stopped bio-emerging."

"What about Takato and the others?" Yamaki wanted to know. "Were they still on Locomon?" A pause.

"Reports indicate they were still aboard Locomon approximately two minutes before Locomon entered the zone. We don't have any information after that."

Yamaki ground his teeth in frustration. Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about that at the moment. "What about the Wild Ones? How many are there?"

Another pause. "At least two thousand, according to scanners."

_This day gets better and better_, he thought.

* * *

From the freight train engine, the other three Tamers watch in horror as Locomon disappeared into the vortex. For almost a full minute, none of them said anything, as Guardromon slowed the car to a halt.

"You don't think Takato and Rika were still on that thing, do you?" Kenta finally asked, uncertain. They looked at each other. They were all thinking the same thing: _I didn't_ see_ them get off…_

It was Terriermon who broke the tension-filled pause. "Henry, much as I hate to admit it, we've got bigger problems to deal with right now." With an ear, the Digimon gestured at the swarms of Parasimon already causing havoc in downtown Shinjuku. "Takato and Rika can take care of themselves, wherever they are."

Henry didn't want to leave his friends. But his partner was right. He swallowed. "Alright then. You ready?"

Terriermon nodded, completely serious for once.

The pair of them leapt out of the freight car. "Biomerge activate!"

"Terriermon Biomerge to-!"

As they merged into MegaGargomon, Henry's heart sank. Since MegaGargomon was several stories tall, he could now get a better view of the numbers they were up against. _There are so many…_

_Aw, come on,_ said Terriermon so that only Henry could hear. _The odds are only a million to one. What's the big deal?_ Henry laughed in spite of himself. He knew that sarcasm was Terriermon's way of dealing with pressure. It worked pretty well, too.

_Yeah, but usually it's not just you, me, Kazu, and Kenta,_ he pointed out. There was no time for further conversation as a minor swarm of Parasimon starting scuttling towards them.

"Gargo Missile!" Several were blasted apart by the missiles; the rest scattered.

"Well at least they're easy to kill," Terriermon remarked aloud.

_No kidding,_ thought Henry.

In less than a minute the Parasimon regrouped and came after them again. "Mega Barrage!" For a moment it seemed to have stopped the Parasimon. But then they started coming towards them again.

* * *

Suzie whimpered and backed away slowly as a wave of Parasimon advanced towards her. Lopmon stood in front of her, ready to attack if necessary. Suzie felt something move behind her. She turned and saw, atop a sign that announced the arrival of the next train, another Parasimon, looming over her…

"Corona Blaster!" All Parasimon on the station platform were blasted to nothing.

"Beelzemon!" Suzie cried happily, running up to hug the large Digimon.

He grinned. "You ok?" But a sudden movement not far away caught his attention. Waves of Parasimon were spreading out in all directions throughout the city. Including… _Damn it, they're heading towards Ai and Mako's neighborhood! _he thought.

"Listen," he said gruffly. "I gotta go take care a somthin'. Can you take it from here, Lopmon?"

The brown-rabbit Digimon nodded.

"Good. See ya!" With a flap off his wings, he was gone.

"Bye!" Suzie called with a wave of her arms. But more Parasimon were closing in. Suzie stared at them with a swallow. In the years since the D-Reaper, Suzie had fantasized about a situation like this, where she and Lopmon could face down bad guys all by themselves, just like her brother and his friends. Finally, an opportunity to prove she was not the little kid she was when she first became a Tamer! She could beat this enemy without help!

Of course, now that she was actually staring these enemies in the face, she felt distinctly less heroic than she had in her daydreams.

"Suzie…" Lopmon said quietly.

"Oh, right." Suzie took a deep breath, like she'd seen Henry do. A Tamer could not show fear in the face of danger. She fished a card out of her pink and blue heart-shaped purse. "Digi-modify! Digivolution activate!" She swiped it with the most dramatic flourish she could manage under the circumstances, and nearly lost her balance as a result. _I need to practice that more…_

"Lopmon Digivolve to- Antylamon!" Antylamon hoisted her Tamer onto her shoulders and looked around for an escape route. _I need to get Suzie out of here…_

"Come on Antylamon!" Suzie cried, pointing one hand to the sky, while holding onto Antylamon's ears with the other. "In the name of the moon, we shall punish these creatures!"

Antylamon sighed._ I knew that Sailor Moon show would be a bad influence._

_

* * *

_

"Sir, General Ishida's on the line for you," Hypnos' communications officer told Yamaki over his headset.

"Put him on," Yamaki ordered, pressing the earpiece into his ear so he could hear it better over the sound of shouting technicians.

A brief pause, then a click. "Yamaki, do you read me?" Ishida's voice sounded slightly staticky.

"Yes General."

"Good. We've begun an evacuation of the Shinjuku ward, but it'll be another forty minutes before we've cleared the area of civilians. Does Hypnos have anything we can use against these things?" That was what Yamaki liked about military-types: always direct and to the point.

"Unfortunately, no," he answered.

Ishida sighed. "Alright then. I'm ordering an evacuation of all government buildings in Shinjuku. You've got about twenty minutes before these Digimon reach your location. Understood?"

"Understood." Yamaki grimaced. It would be near impossible to manage the crisis if he had change headquarters. "Where is Hypnos relocating?"

"Nakano. Same build as in the D-Reaper incident."

"Understood." He cut the channel.

No sooner had he done so, however, when one of the technicians shouted, "Woah! What the hell is _that_ thing?!"

The person sitting next to him glanced over his shoulder at the terminal. "It's another Digimon!" she exclaimed.

"Put it on the main screen," Yamaki ordered. What looked like news footage appeared on the large display screen on the other side of the room. The camera zoomed in on something large, metallic, and green.

Yamaki grinned grimly. He recognized that form. "Start evacuating the building," he told the Director of the Rail Service. Without waiting for a response, he pressed a button on his headset. "Riley, are you still there?"

"Yes sir."

"MegaGargomon's appeared in Shinjuku. Can you still access the communications satellite?"

"Checking… Affirmative."

"Open a channel to him."

* * *

_Wham!_ MegaGargomon slammed his arm into the side of the building, knocking off the Parasimon that had been clinging to it. Two more leapt up and latched onto his other arm.

"Why won't these things _die?!" _Terriermon raged in frustration.

"Kahuna Waves!" A jet of glowing blue hearts blasted the Parasimon off his arm.

"Thanks!" he said as the MarineAngemon zipped by.

"Wait for me!" Kenta shouted, chasing after his partner.

Henry glanced around. Kazu and Guardromon had somehow gotten up onto a nearby pedestrian bridge, and were using it as a vantage point to blast more Parasimon. _At least they can take care of themselves,_ he thought.

He lost track of what his friends were doing as another group of Parasimon came after him. A streak of white light flashed past. "Thunderclap!" The ground vibrated with energy, and all the Parasimon in a ten-foot radius disintegrated. A familiar form alighted on top of a nearby lamppost.

"Hey guys!" Justimon said.

"It's Ryo!" Kazu cheered.

"Boy, are we glad to see you," said Terriermon. "Nice entrance, by the way."

"Thanks." Justimon glanced around. "Hey, where are Rika and Takato?"

"Digital World," MegaGargomon said shortly. "We'll explain later." The brief lull in fighting Justimon had created ended as Parasimon started coming after them again.

"Henry, Terriermon, can you hear me?" MegaGargomon glanced around. Was that Yamaki's voice? Was he here? Then Henry realized that Yamaki was communicating with them via satellite, as he had done during the battle with the D-Reaper.

_I hate it when he does this,_ Terriermon grumbled. _It feels like we're going crazy, talking to voices in our head._

Henry let his partner take over control of the fighting so he could focus on talking to Yamaki. One of Biomerging's many advantages was that it made multitasking a whole lot easier.

"Yeah, I'm here," he said. "We're kind of busy though."

"Then I'll be brief," said Yamaki. "We're evacuating the city. How long can you hold them off?"

"I don't know," Henry said truthfully. He glanced at his surroundings. Even with Justimon's arrival, the odds didn't look good. "That depends on how many there are left." There was a pause.

"It'll be another forty minutes before the evacuation's complete. Hold them off for as long as you can, but don't take unnecessary risks. Understood?"

_He sounds like my dad,_ Henry thought. "Yeah, alright."

"I'll contact you when the evacuation's complete." A crackle of static signaled that the communication channel had been cut.

Henry relayed Yamaki's information to others. He'd found it somewhat disquieting that Yamaki hadn't told him how many Parasimon there were. Were the numbers that staggeringly high? Or was he just being paranoid?

"MegaGargomon, behind you!" someone shouted.

He looked around to see what they were warning him about. Something gripped his back, and then-

* * *

Kazu was the first to notice one of the Parasimon climbing the side of a building behind MegaGargomon. He shouted a warning, but it was too late. He stared, eyes wide, as one of the Parasimon leapt off the building and latched itself onto MegaGargomon's back. The big, copper-green Digimon stopped moving, and slumped where he stood. All at once, all the Parasimon stopped where they stood and stared.

Confused at this odd behavior, Justimon, Kenta, and MarineAngemon stopped and looked around for what the Parasimon were staring at.

For one, seemingly endless minute, the intersection where they had been fighting was absolutely still. The only sounds where the distant police sirens and helicopter blades. Kazu gripped the bridge railing, his knuckles turning white. The image of Rika swinging a wrench at Takato on Locomon flashed through his mind. _Please tell me this doesn't mean what I think it means,_ he thought- prayed, rather.

Then, MegaGargomon straightened. For three seconds, Kazu thought that he had been wrong, and his heart lifted. Then he saw his eyes. They were blank. Empty.

MegaGargomon turned. "Gargo Missile!" But it was not aimed at the Parasimon this time.

The missiles blasted a hole in the side of a building as Justimon just barely managed to get out of the way. "_What the hell do you think you're doing?!_" he shouted, sounded both shocked and pissed. Ryo hadn't seen Rika on Locomon, Kazu realized. He didn't understand what was really happening.

But Kenta, it seemed, did. "It's not Henry!" he called to Justimon. "Parasimon's controlling him!"

"We gotta get rid of the one on his back," Kazu said to his partner. "You think you can get him?"

"I can try." Guardromon levitated off the bridge towards MegaGargomon. "Guardian Barrage!"

But MegaGargomon knocked the missiles aside like nothing. Guardromon groaned. "Oh dear… it didn't work…"

"Mega Barrage!" Guardromon went flying.

"Guardromon!" Kazu scrambled down the stairs off the bridge towards his partner, who appeared only semi-conscious from the impact. A group of Parasimon were converging on the android Digimon. Kazu looked around desperately for something- anything- he could use as a weapon. On his right was a sporting goods store. There was a collection of golf clubs behind the shattered storefront window. He grabbed one and charged the Parasimon, swinging the club. "Get away from him!" They scattered.

"The government has yet to issue a statement on the nature of the creatures in Shinjuku," the announcer said gravely in a voice-over while footage of the battle played on screen. "However, several independent experts on the subject have confirmed that they are Digimon. The magenta insectoid Digimon seen pervading the Shinjuku are believed to the Digimon subspecies called Parasimon. There have been reports of several other types of Digimon seen fighting the Parasimon. Several eyewitnesses have reported that they appear to be the same ones seen fighting the entity known as the D-Reaper two years ago. However, confirmation is still pending."

* * *

Jeri tightened her grip on the tube of icing she hadn't realized she was still holding. Thankfully the cap was screwed on tightly, so it didn't make a mess. She tuned out the anchor's voice, instead focusing on the images on the TV screen. It was beyond frustrating that it wasn't showing the things she most wanted to see: her friends.

She jumped as the phone ring. Rika's grandmother got up to answer it. "Hello?" There was a pause as the caller identified themselves. "Rumiko! Thank goodness!" Seiko sounded relieved. "Are you alright? … No, I haven't seen her. … Do you know where she went? … I see… I know you're worried, but Rika can take care of herself. … Don't come back to our house. I'm worried we may have to evacuate soon. … Find a hotel or something, somewhere outside city limits. Call me when you know where. I'll wait for Rika for as long as I can, and then I'll come meet you there. … I love you too Rumiko. I'll see you soon." She hung up. "Jeri, I think you should try calling your parents again."

Wordlessly, Jeri nodded and stood, walking towards the phone. She wished she could share Seiko's faith that her friends would be alright. What bothered her most was that although she had seen MegaGargomon, Justimon, Guardromon, and even MarineAngemon on the news at some point over the past two hours, she had seen no sign of Gallantmon and Sakuyamon. It worried her. She knew, based on footage from earlier reports, that both of them had been in the area. Now they were nowhere to be seen.

_Please let them be safe…_

* * *

Crouched behind a smashed up minivan, Kenta glanced nervously at the surrounding Parasimon. "Why are they just sitting there?" he muttered. "Why aren't they fighting us anymore?"

"Why bother?" said MarineAngemon.

"Yeah, I s'pose they don't need to fight us anymore, now that they've got Henry. Still," he shivered. "It's kinda creepy."

It was at that moment that MegaGargomon sent Guardromon flying. Kenta glared up at him. "Henry we're your friends!" he shouted. "Wake up!"

"Can't hear you," MarineAngemon pointed out.

"I know he can't, but was still worth a try," Kenta responded. As if to prove his point, MegaGargomon hurled a bus at them. Kenta tried to run, but he stumbled and fell.

"Kahuna Waves!" The bus was disintegrated by glowing blue hearts.

"Th-thanks buddy," Kenta panted, getting up.

"No problem!" his partner chirped.

Justimon landed beside them. "You ok?"

Kenta nodded. "Minor heart attack, but other than that, I'll live."

"Good." Justimon regarded MegaGargomon. "I think Kazu had the right idea, going after the one on his back. Can you distract him for me?"

Kenta readjusted his glasses. "MarineAngemon?"

"Sure!" the Mega squeaked, and flew off.

"Just don't hurt him, ok?" Kenta called after his partner.

MarineAngemon darted around MegaGargomon's face, peppering him with blue bubbles. MegaGargomon seemed more irritated than hurt, but MarineAngemon was distracting enough to divert his attention. MegaGargomon swatted at the little Digimon like he was a mosquito, and even went as far as firing missiles at him. But all he managed to do was blow holes in the side of an apartment building. MarineAngemon was too small, and too fast.

Justimon took the opportunity to double around behind MegaGargomon. He leapt into the air, arm raised. "Voltage Blade" His right arm turned into a glowing red plasma blade. But before he could make contact, a Parasimon broke ranks and leapt off the side of a building to intercept him.

"Electric Bind!" It howled, spewing a grayish web-like substance at them. Justimon screamed as the webbing covered him, sending sparks everywhere. He plummeted like a stone, landing behind a dumpster.

"Justimon!" Kenta ran after them. The Parasimon that had attacked them scuttled into an alley way and sat there, waiting, like the others. _Guess that counts for _something, he thought.

Justimon had separated back into Ryo and Cyberdramon; each was still covered the electrical webbing stuff. Cyberdramon was attempting to shake his off. Ryo was convulsing uncontrollably as the webbing sparked around him; even more worrisome, he didn't appear to be conscious.

Kenta felt panic swelling within him as he stared at his friend. "Ma-MarineAngemon!" His voice cracked, sounding higher than he'd intended. The pink Digimon was at his side in second, cocking his head in a questioning manner. Kenta gestured at the unconscious Ryo. "Do something!"

"Puu! Puu!" MarineAngemon spewed a small cloud of blue heart shaped bubbles, which fluttered downwards like snowflakes. The webbing disintegrated, and Ryo stopped convulsing. He thn did the same for Cyberdramon.

Unfortunately, now that MarineAngemon was no longer distracting MegaGargomon, there was nothing to prevent to big green Digimon from trying to blast them to bits.

"Gargo Missiles!"

But before Kenta had a chance to panic or freak out, a dark shape leapt past him. "Desolation Claw!" Cyberdramon evidently had managed to free himself; the missiles detonated a safe distance upon contact with Cyberdramon's attack.

Safe for _them_ at any rate. The force of the explosion sent MegaGargomon flying backwards into a building.

Ryo began to stir; relief washed over Kenta like a pleasantly cool shower. Ordinarily, Kenta would have found it amusing that someone had been saved by a pink angel-fairy-like thing spitting little heart shaped bubbles. Particularly if it was someone with a reputation like Ryo's. But he wasn't in a laughing mood at the moment.

"You ok?" he asked, crouching down next Ryo as his eyes opened.

"Feels like something kicked me in the chest," he muttered, trying to sit up. If he could make even quips, then he probably wasn't as bad hurt as Kenta had feared. But he was still in no condition to keep fighting. In spite of MarineAngemon's treatment, there were still some nasty looking burn marks from where the webbing had touched his skin. And as Ryo tried to sit up, he continued to twitch involuntarily, though not to nearly the same degree as before.

Kenta straightened. "Hey, Kazu!"

Kazu glanced up as he helped Guardromon get to his feet. "Yeah?"

"We gotta get out of here!"

"Are you crazy?!" Kazu shouted back. "We can't leave him like this!" He waved an arm at MegaGargomon.

"We'll get ourselves killed if we keep fighting like this!" Kenta retorted. "We gotta regroup and come up with a new plan!" He had no idea what said plan might actually be; he was just saying what first came to his head. It sounded like something he remembered from some war movie.

Kenta expected Kazu to argue further, but he didn't. He noticed that Guardromon seemed pretty beaten up. Maybe that was why.

Kenta tried to help Ryo stand up, but the older boy waved him off. "I'm fine," he insisted, stumbling to his feet. "Hey Cyberdramon!" he shouted. "We're leaving!"

Ryo, Kenta, and their partners ran for it, Kazu and Guardromon not far behind. Kenta glanced back at MegaGargomon; his insides clenched. Kazu was right. It did feel like they were ditching their friend. The thought that there wasn't much choice didn't make him feel any better about it.

_

* * *

_

_Thunder rumbled overhead. Rain started to drizzle downwards. Fuming silently, nine-year-old Henry glowered at the darkening sky. As if things weren't bad enough already, now he was going to get rained on._

_It was turning out to be one of those days, where nothing seems to go right. Earlier that day, he'd forgotten his homework, again. It wasn't his fault, he was convinced. Suzie was always demanding he that he play with her, and if he refused she would cry and say he was mean, which he couldn't stand. Or if that wasn't the case, than his sister Jaarin was yakking on the phone with her friends, or his brother Rinchei was playing his video games with friends, making too much noise for him to concentrate. No matter what there never seemed to be time nor place in his family's small apartment for him to be able to do his homework._

_But the teacher had no patience for children's excuses, and had made him stay for hours after school to clean the chewing gum from under the desks. As a result, he'd missed martial arts practice, one of the things he looked forward to every week. _

_To top it off, it had been Suzie's birthday today, and his mother had made her famous manjuu. But by the time he'd gotten home, his siblings had eaten it all, and forgot to leave some for him. _

_In retrospect, that last one was a pretty childish thing to get upset over. But he was only nine, and on top of everything else that had happened, it was getting to be too much. So he'd made an excuse to his family about going to a friend's to borrow a textbook and left in a huff. _

_He kicked a rock, watching it clang against a lamppost. He hated being the third youngest. Rinchei was the oldest, so he got all the new stuff, while Henry was usually stuck with his hand-me-downs. And Jaarin was the oldest girl, so she usually got new stuff too. And Suzie was the baby of the family, only five, so if she made enough of a fuss she usually got what she wanted. She even had her own room! Henry, on the other hand, had to share with his older brother, who he constantly argued with. Of all of his siblings, he was the only one with nothing he could really call his own. Everything he had either he had to share, or once belonged to his older siblings. _

It isn't fair! _he thought angrily._

_Then a voice interrupted his thoughts. "Hey there grasshopper-boy," said a jeering voice. Henry stopped in his tracks, and turned. He was by his school's soccer field. The speaker was a kid named Ryouta, one of his classmates. _

_Grasshopper. That's what some of the kids at school called him. It had started when his gym-teacher had called him "young grasshopper," as a sort of friendly joke. His father later told him it was a reference to an old American TV show about a Shaolin Monk in the Old West. But some kids at school had thought the term was fitting, given Henry's tall, boney frame and spikey hair. It caught on, and stopped being so friendly. _

_His friends told him not to let it bother him, but he couldn't help it. They were making fun of him, over something he couldn't help, and he hated that._

_The day before, someone had put a bunch of dead grasshoppers in his gym shirt when he wasn't looking. Henry hadn't discovered this until after he'd tried to put the shirt on; when he lifted it over his head, a cascade of large, dead insects had rained down upon him. Like any sane person, he'd freaked, and a lot of kids laughed at him as they watched him dance like a maniac._

_Ryouta wasn't looking at him now. He was kneeling and fiddling with his bike lock. He was still wearing his soccer uniform, meaning practice had just ended. Evidently, the grasshopper comment had been made in passing, one last joke at his expense before going home for the day. _

_Henry didn't know who'd put the grasshoppers in his gym shirt. But Ryouta had been one of the ones laughing loudest and longest at him. _

_That was it for Henry. Something in him snapped. He marched over to the other boy. "What did you say?"_

_Ryouta looked up, clearly surprised. Usually, Henry just ignored people when they called him that. "What?"_

"_What did you just call me?" Henry demanded again, trying not to lose his cool._

_Ryouta straightened, defiant. "I said, 'Hey there grasshopper-boy.' You got a problem with that?"_

"_Yeah, I do!" Henry's fist collided with Ryouta's jaw, knocking him over backwards._

"_Why, you…" Ryouta stood and launched himself at Henry, trying to tackle him. But Henry was ready for this. His martial arts training took over as he grabbed the other boy by the shoulders and used his momentum to swing him sideways. Ryouta stumbled and collided head first with the metal bicycle rack. _

_Henry stood there panting, feeling better than he had in days. He waited for Ryouta to get up. The boy didn't move. He just sat there, crumpled against the metal rack, which was still ringing from the collision. His eyelids fluttered, just barely staying open. And then Henry noticed a dark liquid trickling down one of the metal poles Ryouta was leaning against. It was blood, he realized, from the back of Ryouta's head where he'd hit the metal rack. _

_The full realization of what he'd just done hit him like a tidal wave. Terror gripped him, and he started to shake. He was afraid to even go near the boy, terrified of what he might learn. Not knowing what to do, Henry turned and ran for it._

_And then he was in the hospital waiting room. After getting home, it hadn't taken long for Henry's guilt to overcome his cowardice. He'd broken down and told his parents what happened. Across from him in the waiting room were Ryouta's parents, both their faces drawn with anxiety. Henry's father had told them that Henry was the one responsible for their son's injury, but they seemed too anxious to bother with recriminations._

_Henry's father was another matter. Janyu sat beside him; his mouth was drawn in a thin line, but otherwise his face was unreadable. In some ways, Henry would have preferred to be yelled out. This way, he could only imagine what his father was thinking, and his mind only seemed to be capable of coming up with the worst possibilities._

_Tears streamed down his face. Ryouta was a jerk, but Henry was even worse, having done what he did. If Ryouta died, he would be the one who killed him. Henry wanted, more than anything right now, to be able to go back in time and undo it all. To have a do over. It hurt even more to know that wasn't possible. _

_Someone who looked like a doctor came into the waiting room and asked for Ryouta's parents. He didn't hear what she told them, but after a few seconds, Ryouta's mother cried, "Oh thank goodness!" or something to that effect._

_Relief flooded through him. Ryouta was going to be alright. He wasn't a killer. But guilt remained. It could just as easily have been different. If he had used just a little more force, or if he hadn't stopped when he did…_

Never again,_ he resolved. As long as he lived, he would never harm anyone or anything ever again. He was done with fighting._

_But things didn't turn out as well as he'd expected. A few days later, Ryouta was back at school. He told all of his friends what had happened, and what Henry had done to him. Kids stared at him wherever he went. Hushed conversations would stop abruptly when people realized he was within earshot. Rumors flew. Kids who used to talk to him now wouldn't even say hi as they pass in the hallways. One classmate of his transferred to another school a week after the incident. Some kids said it was because his parents had feared for their child's safety. _

_His closer friends stuck by him, and from what he'd heard, defended him to the other kids. He was grateful for it, but at the same time, he wished they would stop. The less of a deal they made out of it, he thought, the sooner everyone would forget and it would all go away. But it didn't._

_A few months later, his father was promoted. His parents could afford a bigger apartment. They bought one in Shinjuku, halfway across Tokyo. His siblings were upset about having to leave their friends, but Henry was secretly glad. At his new school, he was able to start with a clean slate. Two years later, he met Terriermon, and then Takato and Rika._

_Henry wandered through the nothingness. It had the strange, detached, surreal feeling that came with dreams. Somewhere he could hear voices, arguing. Crashes, explosions. As though someone was fighting. Yet it sounded oddly indistinct. Like background noise in a movie. _

"_Diamond Storm!" He was in a parking garage. Without warning, Terriermon emerged from behind a parked car- right in Renamon's line of fire. The fox Digimon froze in horror, but it was too late for her to call it off._

"_No!" Henry screamed. As the shards of light impacted and exploded, his Digivice made a high pitched scream._

"_Terriermon Digivolve to-"_

_The dream (if that's what it was) became a nightmare. Out of control, Gargomon began shooting wildly in every direction, laughing in a manic and unnaturally high-pitched way. Takato, Rika, Guilmon and Renamon screamed as they were vaporized, one by one, by Gargomon's frenzied shooting. _

No!

It took Henry a minute to realize he'd come back to reality. He was disoriented. He felt that unique tingling feeling that came with de-Digivolving from MegaGargomon, yet couldn't remember actually doing that.

It took him a second to notice his surroundings. _What the-?!_ He jumped. _Where did all those Parasimon come from?!_ They were standing around him in a loose circle, a few hundred feet away. Then he remembered the events of that day. _But…that doesn't explain how I got here._ He didn't remember going to this part of the city before he'd blacked out.

As he tried to get a handle on his location, he spotted another familiar form not far away within the ring. "T-Terriermon?" It looked like him. But the mischief was gone from his friend's eyes. They seemed so… empty. And what was that on his back?

Henry felt something grab his own back. He might have noticed the feeling of déjà vu had he staid conscious a second or two longer.

* * *

**A/N:** Second chapter folks! And the first one that's really original material. Maybe that's why chapter one hasn't gotten any reviews? But thanks anyways to all you folks who faved this and put it on Story Alert.

Commentary:

Ok I'll admit it. When the summary for this fic says that Henry goes MIA, that's a complete lie. The Tamers know perfectly well where he is and what's happened to him. But I couldn't fit what really happens to Henry into the summary without either going over this site's stupid character limit, or else sacrificing the explanation of what the this fic is about overall.

Speaking of Henry, a few things about his dream thing at the end of this chapter: That was inspired by a line from the dub, where Henry mentions where that one of the reasons he's such a pacifist is because he was frustrated about having so many siblings, and took it out on another kid, but wound up hurting him. The line sort of comes out of nowhere, since we've never heard anything about this incident, nor is it ever elaborated upon (if I recall correctly, it wasn't in the Japanese version). So I decided to expand upon it for a little character development here, sort of like what happened with Rika.

Also, it's worth noting that while Henry felt like he was the neglected middle child as a kid, keep in mind that it's not exactly uncommon for kids that age to think things like that. At the time, he was sort exaggerating to himself how unfair his life was. Older Henry is aware of this.

Oh, and in case you're wondering: the "grasshopper" nickname is a reference to an old TV show called _Kung Fu._ It's about an exiled, half-American Shaolin Monk who is hiding from the Chinese Authorities in America's Old West. "Grasshopper" was the nickname the monk's mentor called him (sort of like "young padawan"). And in case you were wondering: yes, I am a complete nerd for knowing that.

Notes about Suzie and Sailor Moon: as I said in chapter 1, she's 11 in this fic. That means she would have outgrown a lot of the little-kid character quirks that defined her in the TV show (mainly dolls and dress ups). Which left me with the problem of figuring out what new personality to give her. Making her a Magical Girl wannabe seemed like the best way to stay in keeping with her younger personality, while avoiding making her into a useless ditz. Why am I telling you all this? Because I have **plans** for her in this fic! Bwahahaha.

Anyways, don't expect updates to come as fast for the next few chapters. I have a debate tournament every single weekend for the whole month of February, and even if I get a lot of snow days like the weatherman says, a lot of them will be spent prepping for said tournaments. Plus, I wrote chapters 3 and 4 about a year ago, and since then, I've changed my mind about a whole lot of things in in this fic (e.g.: the villain's identity, goals, motives, backstory, etc.). I'm gonna have to go back and rewrite those chapters so they're consistent with my current plans.

As always, please review!


	3. Rest and Massacre

**Chapter 2: Rest and Massacre  
**

_CRASH!_ Locomon plowed into the desert of the Digital World's outermost layer, spraying sand in all directions and sending Gallantmon, Rika and Renamon tumbling off the side.

_That trip hasn't gotten much funner since last time,_ Guilmon thought unhappily.

Takato laughed. _No kidding._

They stood up. Then something wrapped around his torso. It was at that moment that Takato realized they weren't alone.

"Why are the Parasimon _here?_" Guilmon wailed as they fended off their attackers.

"H-how the heck should I know?!" Takato thought back at him. There were hundreds, if not thousands of the insect Digimon surrounding them. They swarmed in all directions, like a writhing seething mass of hairy legs and bulging eyes.

Gallantmon swallowed the bile rising in his throat. Bugs had always grossed Takato out. A lot. Just thinking about squashing bugs made him even more nauseous. All the little dismembered bug bits, still squirming…

_Stop it Takato! Now you're grossing me out, _Guilmon complained.

_Sorry,_ he apologized, trying to shut the mental image out of his brain. Telepathy had its downsides.

The reappearance of Locomon had thrown the Parasimon into a confusion, so much so that they hadn't even noticed the appearance of Gallantmon and company at first. That was fast changing. A small group surrounding them turned to face them. "Electric bind!" they shouted in not quite perfect unison.

"Jump!" Renamon grabbed Rika roughly around the waist and jumped to avoid the attack. Gallantmon was a shade slower in following suit, but still managed to jump in time too avoid serious hurt. Below, the electrified webbing collided at the center of the empty spot where they had been standing. Some of the webbing missed entirely, and hit other Parasimon instead. Gallantmon plummeted back down to earth, impaling a Parasimon through the middle as he landed square on its back.

_Urgh! _He thought, suppressing the urge to retch as the Parasimon's body-less limbs writhed in goo before disintegrating. If Takato had been in human form, he probably would have vomited.

"Biomerge Activate!" Still in midair, Rika and Renamon Biomerged together. "Sakuyamon!" Now floating, she swept her staff in an arc, sending out a shockwave that cleared an area for her to land in. Gallantmon leapt inside the clearing just as she closed a force field around them.

No sooner had she done so, when the hordes of Parasimon swarmed over the shield en masse. They pounded the shield with what seemed to Gallantmon like every attack in their arsenal: webbing, tentacles, legs, head-butts (torso-butts?), you name it. And with each assault, the shield shimmered like static on a television. And with each assault, the shimmering slowly got worse. The noise of their screeching was over powering.

"What are you waiting for?!" Gallantmon shouted desperately at Sakuyamon. "Fly us out of here!"

"You think I wouldn't already be doing that if I could?" she grunted irritably. "There's too damn many of them for me to punch through. You'll have to think of something; I'm too busy just keeping this shield stable."

Mentally, Takato ground his teeth. Way to shove all of the burden on him. What the hell could he do? Sakuyamon's shields worked both ways: just as they prevented attacks from coming in, they also stopped attacks from going out.

_We could try rolling sideways,_ Guilmon suggested.

_What, you mean like that game, Super Monkey Ball?_ Takato thought back.

_Yeah_.

_That might work. _They repeated the suggestion aloud to Sakuyamon.

She shook her head. "That won't work. They've dented us in good, so we'd just end up breaking the shield if we tried that."

Gallantmon looked around and saw what she meant. The weight of the Parasimon on top of them had gotten to the point where the shield had formed a spherical dent in the ground. Rolling out of that would be hard.

He sighed. "Well, we've only got one other idea."

"Is it more likely to work than the last one?"

"…Probably."

"Then go with it."

"OK, then. When I tell you to, drop the shield. I'll clear a path, and as soon as I've done that, reform the shield and get us out of here."

"I now understand what you meant by 'probably,'" she said dryly.

"Haha, very funny." Gallantmon raised his shield allowing it to charge. They were committed now. "On my mark…" His shield finished charging. "Now!"

The force field around them vaporized. "Shield of the Just!" he cried, swinging his shield around in an arc, vaporizing the Parasimon directly in front of them, while blasting others backwards.

"Copycat," Sakuyamon muttered as she reformed the shield and launched them out of there. There was one small problem though. Gallantmon hadn't been able to clear a perfectly circular area around them. Which meant that when Sakuyamon reformed the shield, they took a few Parasimon with them. None of whom were entirely in one piece.

"Eugh!" Sakuyamon yelped as a dismembered Parasimon leg jabbed her in the back. "What the hell?!"

Gallantmon stabbed it with his lance, causing it to vaporize. "I'll get rid of them! Just get us out of here!"

"Hey! Watch where you swing that thing!" she cried angrily, narrowly avoiding his lance as he lunged to stab another one.

"Sorry." The shield shimmered violently, but ultimately held. Before long, most of the Parasimon parts dissipated on their own anyway. Gallantmon panted heavily, looking around. They were floating a couple dozen feet above the ground. Below them, the seething mass of Parasimon chattered and screeched at them from below, but otherwise, seemed at quite a loss to figure out how to attack them when they were so high up.

"So now what?" Rika's voice demanded irritably. "We can't stay up here forever, and they'll just follow us wherever we go."

"Hey, I didn't think this far ahead," Takato shot back defensively, "But we got us this far, didn't we?"

Sakuyamon didn't answer immediately. His instincts told him that Rika and Renamon were having some sort of inner, mental, telepathic discussion. It was weird, now that he thought about it- he was so used to it, that not only could he realized what they were, doing, but it didn't even strike him as rude anymore.

_Wham!_

Something slammed into the shield, causing it to shake violently. The shield shimmered, and for a heart-stopping moment, shattered entirely. But Sakuyamon reformed it before they could properly fall.

Gallantmon looked around, frantically. The Parasimon were firing streams of their webbing up at them. Most of it fell short, but some shots were coming dangerously close. Even more worrisome, the Parasimon were starting to figure out that if they climbed on top of one another (forming a kind of pyramid), they could get better shots.

"We gotta get out of here!" he shouted over the Parasimon's screeching.

"Obviously!" Sakuyamon snapped back. She paused. "How much do you trust me?"

"What kind of question is that?!" Another lucky Parasimon landed a hit on their shield, making it shake and wobble even harder. "Oh forget it!" Gallantmon exclaimed. "Whatever it is you're thinking, just do it!"

"Hold on then!" Without warning, the shield accelerated to breakneck speeds, throwing Gallantmon back forcibly.

"What the-" he staggered upright against the G-forces, just in time to get a good look at what they were racing towards. "Oh, you gotta be kiddi-!" His world whited out as they plunged into the Data Stream.

* * *

In the hour that followed Takato and Rika's escape, the Parasimon were milling about in mass confusion. The humans had got away from them. Was the plan shot to pieces? What were the orders from their master? They didn't have any. Where was he? No one knew.

Amid all this confusion, a new data stream appeared from the sky, landing in the middle of the clearing. The Parasimon scurried backwards in fear. The light of the data stream vanished, revealing in its place a winged figure clad in green armor.

Ophanimon surveyed the scene calmly. The Parasimon all stared at her, utterly silent. Erie, given their usually incessant screeching chatter. Even with their limited intelligence, they understood why she was here. And that terrified them.

"Excellent," she murmured. "I hate having to explain things to idiots." She raised her javelin. "Eden's Shield!" A shimmering gold force field appeared, encompassing her and almost all of the Parasimon. Like Sakuyamon's force field, this force was meant to protect. Like hers, it worked both ways. Unlike her, Ophanimon was specifically exploiting that fact on this occasion.

"Can't run now, can you?" She murmured. "If you were _really_ smart, you'd have run the second you saw me. All the better for me I suppose." There were a few Parasimon lucky enough to be outside the force field's radius. They would live to report to their leader. That was fine with her. She was here to send a message to him.

She turned slowly, surveying what was at her disposal. The Parasimon were now scrabbling at the walls of her force field, trying desperately to escape. Taking her time, she selected one nearest her. It screeched and struggled to get free, but she held it firmly. Its brethren didn't even seem to notice in their own struggle to escape.

"Hmmm…" she examined it closely. "Eight legs is really kind of excessive, you know? Let's see if I can't relieve you of a few." She tossed it up in the air and caught it. "Eeny-" she ripped off a leg- "Meeny-" another leg- "Miny-" and another- "Moe." It was now entirely legless on one side. Relishing its screams of agony, she turned to the other side. "Catch a- Tiger- by a- toe." The screaming Parasimon was now nothing more than a legless torso. "Hmmm… I forget how the rest of it goes." Ophanimon grabbed the torso by the feelers and swung it in circles, smashing it into several other Parasimon and destroying them before the legless torso vaporized on its own.

That gave her an idea. She grabbed the nearest Parasimon and ripped off its leg. Before it could even scream in pain, she impaled it messily through the eye with its own torn off limb. Not wasting time, she killed another, and another, and another in the same manner with the same ripped off limb before it disintegrated. "Four," she mused to herself. "I'm out of shape." She ripped off the leg of another unfortunate Parasimon and repeated the exercise. This time, she made it to six before the limb disintegrated. "That's more like it."

She turned and looked for her next victim. There were still hundreds off Parasimon left within her force field. It was kind of interesting, seeing what kind of effect her "workout" had on the other Parasimon. Some were still scrabbling at the force field edges. But it was a half-hearted effort for most of those. Most of the rest had given up entirely, and simply lay on the ground. They'd given up hoping for escape, or even for a quicker death.

_Though most of them might end up getting that last one_, she thought with a sigh of regret. With many, it would take forever to kill them all at the rate she was going. And there was no way she could keep coming up with new, interesting ways to kill each of them. "Maybe I'll just downsize them to a more manageable size," she murmured to herself.

Ophanimon raised each arm so they pointed towards either side of her. "Sephirot Crystals!" Hundreds of deadly glittering jewels appeared all around her in mid-air. She spun gracefully in a circle, sending the crystals out in a spiral shockwave, killing Parasimon as they moved.

It was only when she stopped to survey the results that she realized there wasn't a single Parasimon left alive inside her force field. She swore angrily to herself. She'd meant to leave a couple dozen or so alive so she could keep playing with them for a while. But she'd been so caught up in the moment that she had completely forgotten to hold back her attack at all. Now, there was nothing left inside her force field except for her, and the thick haze of the dead Parasimon's scattered data.

At least she caught still enjoy that part. Unlike some Digimon, she always saved absorbing all of her victims' data for the very end. It was like a dessert to her, so sweet and delectable. That was one of the reasons she used a force field: to keep the data from dispersing before she could absorb it.

She threw back her head and let the loose data be drawn inside her, a blissful smile creeping on her lips as she did so. As the data and its power flowed inside of her, she felt as though the agony the Parasimon had suffered in their last moments was flowing inside of her. She had brought that pain into the world like a mother brings its child. And now she was calling it home.

Ophanimon absorbed the last of the data, and sighed regretfully as the blissful feeling ended. She wished she could have dragged it out longer. It had been over far too quickly. But what was done was done. She had other business to take care of.

* * *

Takato groaned as he sat up. After traveling through the data stream, he and Guilmon had separated back into their normal selves, as had Rika and Renamon. They appeared to be in a different part of the same, desert-y plane of the Digital World. Except here, there were no hordes of Parasimon trying to destroy them.

"Um, where are we?" he asked, standing up.

"The Digital World, duh," Rika deadpanned.

"I _know_ that," Takato shot back. "But _where_ in the Digital World?"

"We're on the same plane of the Digital World that we were just on," Renamon answered. "But we're a few miles from where we just were."

"What makes you so sure?" Rika asked.

"The Real World hasn't gotten any closer or farther since we came through the Data Stream," she explained. "And we can't be anywhere near where we just were, since there are no Parasimon here."

Takato would have to take her word for it. He hadn't exactly been paying attention to details like that before they'd gone through the data stream.

_Speaking of which…_ Takato clapped his hands together. "Ok then, we should probably figure out away to get home."

Rika sat down on a rock, arms folded. "Well, seeing as you're the one who got us into this…"

Takato winced. _Yeah, I guess it is sorta my fault…_

"Couldn't Henry's dad send us another ark?" Guilmon suggested. "It worked last time."

Takato brightened. "Yeah, you're right! Yamaki knew we were still on Locomon, so he'll be able to figure out where we've gone! And then he can make another ark for us like he did last time!"

"We'd need a method of communicating with the real world for that to work," Renamon pointed out. "Otherwise we won't know where to meet the ark, or when. Rika's phone was destroyed by the Parasimon, so unless one of you has something…" She gave Takato and Guilmon a questioning look.

Takato shook his head, heart sinking. "All I got is my Digivice, some cards, and my wallet."

Guilmon shrugged. "I've just got me."

"Besides," Rika added. "I don't know about you two, but I don't want to just sit around and hope that someone'll come and rescue us."

"Well, do you have any _better_ ideas?" Takato queried.

She didn't answer immediately, instead lacing her fingers together and turning her palms outward and stretching. "Look," she said finally, "Renamon and Guilmon and the other Digimon got to the Real World on their own before, right? Same with the Devas and all the other Digimon we fought. If they could find a way to the Real World, why can't we go there the same way?" She glanced expectantly at Guilmon and Renamon.

"The first time I went to the Digital World was with you and Takatomon," Guilmon reminded her.

"What about you, Renamon?" Takato asked.

The fox-Digimon shrugged. "I don't remember much about my life before I became Rika's partner," she said matter-of-factly. "All I know is that one moment I was here, and the next, I was in the Real World, with Rika." Takato groaned. He was afraid of getting an answer like that. "But I think you're right," Renamon continued. "Other Digimon have gone to the Real World before. We might be able to use that."

Takato nodded thoughtfully. "We could ask around; someone might know something."

Rika snorted. "One problem: there's sort of a shortage of people to ask right now." She was right; the barren desert was almost completely devoid of life.

In the end, their plan of action essentially amounted to picking a random direction and walking in the hopes of finding some Digimon (who hopefully wouldn't try to kill them) who might be able to help them.

Takato and Guilmon made idle conversation as they walked, talking about anything and everything that entered their heads. Takato eventually gave up trying to include Rika in the conversation; she didn't talk except when someone said something to her specifically, and even then, it was never more than a few syllables. She seemed particularly grumpy, although Takato wasn't sure which of the many crappy things that had happened that day was what was bothering her. As for Renamon, she had never been much of a conversationalist to begin with.

Although the landscape was dull and unvaried, killing time was not the only motivation behind Takato and Guilmon's chatter. For Takato, at least, the goal was distracting himself from thinking about home, his friends, and- particularly- how they were dealing with the Parasimon that had been stranded in the Real World. If he wasn't careful, his overly active imagination would supply plenty of unpleasant mental images of all the ways things could be screwed up in the Real World.

Suddenly…

"What the-?!" Takato looked around, startled; everything around him had gone dark with out warning.

"Nightfall, remember?" Renamon reminded him.

"Oh yeah." He remembered now that night came instantly in the Digital World; no sunset or twilight or anything. It was still disconcerting though, as if someone had flipped a switch and turned off the sun.

"C'mon, we'd better set up camp for the night," Rika suggested. If she was bothered by the sudden coming of night, she didn't show it.

Takato and Guilmon got to work setting up a campfire, while she and Renamon went to search for food. Strictly speaking, the latter task wasn't entirely necessary, since you didn't need to eat to survive in the Digital World. But that didn't mean they didn't want to eat, and Rika seemed to want some time to herself.

"Is it just me, or is Rika grumpier than usual?" Guilmon asked as he and Takato searched through a clump of underbrush for some firewood.

"I think it's been a rough day," Takato answered. _Understatement of the century._ He tested the branches of a bush. They bended easily, but didn't break. They weren't dry enough to burn well. "I mean, first she gets possessed by Parasimon, then nearly killed, and then stranded here. Some way to celebrate your birthday, huh?" He laughed, but there wasn't much humor in it.

Finally he found a dead sapling about his height. He tested one of the smaller branches, the same thickness as his finger. The dried out branch snapped with only a little pressure. _Perfect._ "Hey Guilmon, could you give me a hand with this?"

"Sure." A few Rock Breakers later, the tree had been reduced to appropriately sized pieces of firewood.

"Takato, does everyone have a birthday?" Guilmon asked.

"Course they do," Takato answered. "Everyone has to get born sometime, don't they?" He crouched down and counted the number of logs. "You think this is enough?"

"I wasn't born like you, though," he pointed out, ignoring Takato's firewood question. "Does that mean I don't have a birthday?"

Takato straightened and stared at his partner in surprise. He'd never given it much thought. "Well," he said slowly, "you get born when you, uh…" he scratched his head and cast around for the best way to put it without going into too much detail. Watching that pregnancy video in health class had been traumatic enough; explaining the concept to Guilmon would be little short of mortifying. "When, you, uh, first come into the world, I guess?" he said uncertainly. The phrasing felt lame to him, but Guilmon wouldn't care. "So yeah, I guess you do have a birthday," he concluded

Guilmon cocked his head curiously. "Which world? The Real one or the Digital one?"

"Um… either. Both? Whichever comes first, I think," Takato said, somewhat flustered. _Leave it to Guilmon to ask questions like these,_ he thought. He decided to move on before the conversation got even more awkward. "So, that would make your birthday the day we met, I think."

"When was that?"

"Umm…" Takato racked his memory. "That would be, uh, April 21st." _Only a few months away_, he thought. And- "Wait a sec… that means we missed your last four birthdays!" he exclaimed, upset.

"Is that bad?" Guilmon asked, bemused.

"Of course it is! Birthdays are important! You're not supposed to forget when a friend has one," Takato told him. _Even if he wasn't here for some of them, he's still my best friend,_ Takato thought guiltily. _I should have at least _remembered. "Tell you what," he said, "On your next birthday will have a really big party for you, to make up for the ones we missed, kay?"

"Can I have three times as much bread with peanut butter?" Guilmon asked eagerly.

"Whatever you want, boy."

"Yay! Three time as much bread!" Guilmon cheered.

Takato laughed. It was hard not to like someone who was so easily excited.

* * *

Takato and Guilmon weren't there when Rika and Renamon got back to their campsite. Rika sighed and sat down, cross-legged, to wait. Neither she nor Renamon said anything for a while. Rika stared up at the Real World. It was sort of like staring at the moon, but it wasn't. For starters, the Real World appeared much, much bigger and closer from here than the moon did from home. Also, the moon wasn't surround glowing tire-track like patterns, nor did it emit pink beams of light.

_Kind of pretty, in an alien sort of way._

She tried to see if she could make out the outlines of continents through the layers of data surrounding the Real World. At one point, she thought she could see the outlines of Africa. Assuming she wasn't imagining things, and assuming she remembered her geography right, that meant her home would be on the side of the world she couldn't see right now. _So much for that idea,_ she thought, rubbing her eyes.

"What are you thinking about?" Renamon asked after a while.

To anyone else, Rika would have said "Nothing." To her partner, she answered, "Home."

"We'll see it again," Renamon told her.

"I _know_ that," Rika snapped. She paused for a moment. "It's just… we never got to say goodbye, did we?" she said, her voice softer. "To my mom, I mean. And my grandma. And our friends too. They're probably worried sick about us. And we can't even contact them to let them know we're ok." _Or vice-versa,_ she thought.

"And then there's those Parasimon," she continued. "There were so many in the Real World when we left. What if they can't beat them? What if they go out of control, like the D-Reaper did? If something happened, to- to mom, to grandma, to Henry, to Ryo, to Kazu, to Kenta, or any of them-" her voice rose steadily in pitch- "we'd be stuck _here_, unable to do damn thing about it! We wouldn't even _know_ about it until it was too late!" She took a breath as she finished her monologue.

If she had told her mother, grandmother, Takato, or Jeri all of this they would have fussed over her, making her feel like a sissy. If she had told Henry or Ryo, they would have told her there was no point in worrying about things she couldn't do anything about, making her feel like an idiot since any five year old could have figured that out.

Renamon knew better than to do either. Rika didn't want to be comforted or to have someone talk sense into her; she just wanted to vent. Renamon waited for her partner to finish before asking, "You don't think Henry and the others can handle it?"

"Of course I do," Rika answered. "But not as well as we could." Renamon had a feeling that Takato and Guilmon weren't included in the "we."

Neither said anything for a while. Rika breathed. She was still worried about her family and friends back home. She was still worried about if and when she'd see them again. But it felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her chest, one she hadn't fully realized was there. _Thanks, Renamon._

The night was oddly quiet- no crickets, or owls, or anything like that. _Makes sense, since not much lives in this part of the Digital World._

After a while, she broke the silence. "Renamon, what… what happened, while the Parasimon were controlling me?"

Renamon glanced at her warily- not a good sign. "How much do you remember?" she asked cautiously.

"Just a few bits and pieces. It a felt like I was dreaming, but I'm pretty sure that what I saw actually happened." It was the truth, if only half of it. She'd also dreamed about her father (she was certain that part was a dream). But she didn't want to tell Renamon about that part yet, since she didn't fully understand it herself.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Renamon asked. Another bad sign.

Rika hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Tell me."

"You attacked us. Me and Takato that is. With a wrench," she said.

"A wrench?" Rika asked, her face tightening.

"…Yes. Parasimon was controlling you," she reminded her.

"I know. But…" Rika frowned, remembering something. "How did I wind up on Locomon's roof?"

"I think you chased Takato up there," Renamon answered. "Guilmon was the one who destroyed the Parasimon on your back."

"That's it?"

"In a nutshell, yes."

Rika knew her partner was skimming over a lot of details, but she sensed that Renamon hadn't left out anything important, so she didn't press the issue.

"You know," Rika said after minute, "I think I know what Jeri meant about being used."

"What do you mean?" Renamon asked.

"After we rescued her from the D-Reaper," she explained. "Jeri kept saying what she hated most was the feeling that it had _used_ her to do what it did. I think I know what she meant now."

There was no chance to discuss it further, because Takato and Guilmon had (finally) returned. They dumped their loads of firewood onto the ground unceremoniously and glanced around.

"No luck?" Takato asked, evidently noticing the lack of food.

Rika shook her head. "Nope. Sorry."

He sighed. "Well, it was worth a try, I suppose."

It didn't take long to set up a campfire (having a fire-breathing dinosaur on their team helped). They discussed their plans somewhat for the following day, but really there wasn't much left to discuss. After a few minutes, they agreed upon who would take which watches for the night (Rika first, then Renamon, then Takato, then Guilmon) before finally going to sleep.

* * *

Cherubimon paced back and forth, his lips drawn tightly together in anger. He was inside of the banquet hall of a large European style castle that he and his followers used as a based.

The door to the banquet hall opened, and another Digimon glided in. "You wanted me?" Seraphimon asked. His voice was perfectly calm, almost bored. This infuriated Cherubimon even more, as Seraphimon almost certainly knew why he was angry.

"My sources tell me that the plan with Locomon failed," Cherubimon growled.

Seraphimon tensed. "Your sources are right." At least he was honest enough to admit it outright. For once.

"What confuses me," Cherubimon went on, "is why I didn't hear it from you first."

Seraphimon didn't even pause to think of an answer. "I wanted to get as much information on what went wrong before I bothered you," he said smoothly. The excuse sounded very well practiced. It was also patently ridiculous: no sensible person would wait to deliver that kind of news unless they feared the reaction they'd get. But if he called Seraphimon out on, he would deny everything, and they would get nowhere. So Cherubimon changed tacks.

"So what _do_ you know then?"

"Very little. We have absolutely no way to know what went on in the Real World. All we do know is that Locomon returned through the gate he created." It sounded like the truth, or at least most of it.

"How many of our followers got through before it closed?" Cherubimon asked.

"A few thousand Parasimon," Seraphimon answered. He smiled slightly. "Though it seems that your followers misheard the rendezvous point, and weren't there to go through the gate when it was open."

Cherubimon growled. He had already known about that, but it still pissed him off. There was no way his followers had gotten the place wrong. "You deliberately told us the wrong place so they wouldn't be there," he growled. "So you could establish a foothold in the Real World first." The Parasimon worked for Seraphimon, not Cherubimon, and would only follow Seraphimon's orders.

"Don't be ridiculous," Seraphimon replied coolly. "I would not be so underhanded. Don't blame me for your people's incompetence."

Cherubimon roared and lunged at Seraphimon, tackling him to the ground. Seraphimon yelped as he fell, clearly taken by surprise. "Don't you _dare_ insult them!" he snarled. "My fighters are valiant and honorable, and you and your band of insects aren't worth one of them! Perhaps it's good you lied to us. God knows how many would have been left to be slaughtered by the humans in the Real World when your plan went wrong!"

Seraphimon pushed him off and stood up. He was about to say something when someone burst into a fit of giggles above. Both Digimon jumped and looked up. Ophanimon lounged in the rafters, looking down on them and giggling uncontrollably. "Don't mind me!" she said between giggles. "Keep going by all means!" Her giggles turned into full fledged laughter.

Seraphimon and Cherubimon exchanged looks. The one thing they had in common was their mistrust- and mild fear- of Ophanimon. She was sadistic and unpredictable, one of the worst combinations imaginable. They had only let her join their alliance to avoid having to fight her.

But if she had been watching them the entire time they were fighting, that was very, very bad for both of them. It was common knowledge that Cherubimon and Seraphimon didn't get along, but it would be _much_ harder to control her if she knew they were that divided.

"What do you want?" Cherubimon asked tensely.

"Ah yes. _That._" Her smile vanished. That was even more frightening. "You weren't the only one… misinformed about the rendezvous, Cherubimon," she said coolly.

"I already said-" Seraphimon began, but she cut him off.

"I didn't come here for your damned excuses, or empty promises that it won't happen again," she said curtly. "I'm more… proactive than this lughead here." She gestured at Cherubimon. "I've made sure of that."

"Meaning what?" Seraphimon asked, with no small amount of trepidation.

She smiled, ever so slightly at him. "So when was the last time you heard from your little band of insects?"

Even Cherubimon was catching on to her meaning at that point, though he couldn't quite believe it. "What are you saying?" he sputtered, eyes wide. Surely even she wouldn't…

Seraphimon's face was impossible to read under his helmet, but his fists were tightly balled. "They're all dead, aren't they?" he asked quietly.

She laughed. "So you _are _smart. A few got away from me, but for all intents and purposes, that's basically right." Her smile widened eerily.

Cherubimon growled, outraged. "What gave you the right to murder the Parasimon? They were simply following orders!" He found the Parasimon distasteful, and goodness knew he would've liked seeing Seraphimon get his comeuppance under other circumstances. But this was going to far.

Ophanimon rolled her eyes at him. "For the same reason you put up with him, despite hating his guts. His plan may not have worked this time, but he's still the only one who can get us to the Real World."

When he didn't stop glaring at her, her smile vanished. "Damn it, you retard, do you have any idea how much of a favor I just did for you?!" she said angrily. "You're the only one in this little trio with any followers now. _Seraphimon can't do anything without your help now._"

She paused for a moment. "And now that I'm done spelling out the obvious, I'm going to go kill stuff now."

Cherubimon opened his mouth to try and stop her. She raised her hands in response with a mix of defensiveness and exasperation. "Alright, fine, I'm kidding, if it will get you off my case. I'll go and do embroidery or something like a good little girl." She left through a skylight in the ceiling before either of them could say anything.

It was a good long while before either of the two remaining Digimon said anything. Cherubimon felt no small amount of schadenfreude at Seraphimon's situation. In terms of the balance of power, Ophanimon had pulled the rug right out from under him. As far as Cherubimon was concerned, he'd had it coming a very long time.

But it was impossible to tell what Seraphimon was thinking under that damn helmet he always wore. That frustrated Cherubimon nearly out of his mind. Was he angry? Frightened? Did he mourn the loss of his followers, the Parasimon? Or did he simply feel nothing at all? Cherubimon wouldn't put it past the bastard to be nearly incapable of emotion. _After all, he's a-_

His thoughts were interrupted when Seraphimon next spoke. "Have one of your people follow her. She's getting harder to control."

Cherubimon scowled. "Don't give me orders," he growled, though he knew it was a good idea. It seemed he was right about Seraphimon's being unemotional. He hadn't been spending the last few minutes processing any kind of loss; he'd just been scheming his next move, just like he always did.

But now his smoldering anger at Seraphimon was starting to distract him from the task at hand. Cherubimon pushed the feelings aside, as he'd learned to do in his years as a leader, so he could determine the next step. They needed another way to the Real World. He may as well be direct in asking about it.

"We need another way to get to the Real World," Cherubimon said, keeping his voice matter-of-fact. "If you want me to keep my end of our deal, you'd better know about one."

"I was just going to bring that up," Seraphimon replied coolly. "When Locomon returned to the Digital World a human and two Digimon came back with him. They escaped my Parasimon into a Data Stream. Their whereabouts are currently unknown."

Cherubimon stared. "Humans and Digimon? Are you talking about…?"

"Tamers. Possibly the ones who abandoned us before the True Enemy attacked."

And now Cherubimon understood. "I'll send out orders for their capture."

Seraphimon nodded. "One more thing. I want to be the one who questions them."

Cherubimon frowned. "Why should I let you do that?"

"Because I can make them trust me." He was utterly serious.

Cherubimon had to work hard to suppress a burst of laughter. Coming from Seraphimon, it was such a ridiculous thing to say. But the irony was that, knowing what Cherubimon did about Seraphimon's history, it was also totally reasonable.

* * *

**A/N:** Hoo boy, it took a while to get this out, didn't it? I wasn't lying when I said debate tournaments were gonna eat up my life (and they'll continue to do so pretty much till the end of the school year). But that wasn't the only reason this took so long. As I've said in previous author's notes, I've been working on this fic off and on for a year and a half now. During that time, I've changed my mind about a lot of things, particularly the villains. So obviously, some parts of this chapter had to be heavily rewritten.

This chapter essentially serves two purposes: to show what happened to Takato and Rika, (and develop their characters a bit), and to introduce us to the villains. Frankly, I'm kind of nervous about this story's main villains. Ordinarily, I would prefer to avoid having OCs as major characters in my fics, and instead use existing characters, no matter how minor. Part of this is laziness: when you use existing characters (even really minor ones), you have a blueprint to start from, while with OCs, you have to create a three dimensional character from scratch. But a lot of it is also because I'm trying to minimize Mary Sue-ishness here. It's hard enough keeping canon characters from straying into Sue territory; OCs are even more vulnerable.

The reason I'm breaking my no-major-OCs rule here is because of pure necessity. When you get down to it, Parasimon make terrible villains for a really long fic like this one. They're all exactly the same, with minimal personality and individuality, and no obvious centralized leadership. This creates two problems: First, it gets really boring really fast if you're constantly fighting one enemy after another like that. Second, it's near impossible to have narration from the bad guys point of view, giving clues about their motivations and future plans. Moreover, I couldn't think of an existing character who logically could be behind the Parasimon attack, so totally new characters were needed.

I'm just going to stop making predictions about when the next update will be. One the one hand, school and debate will be over by the end of May, so in theory, I should have time to crank out more chapters. But on the other hand, I've noticed that I tend to get inspired to work on fanfic at really bad times, when I've got a bajillion more pressing things to do. When I have lots of free time (like over the summer) my motivation totally evaporates. Urg.

But reviews tend to make me want to write more, so keep writing 'em! (Yes, I know I'm a shameless review whore. Shut up).


	4. Deep Breath Before the Plunge

I know we're not supposed to reply to reviews inside the authors note, but this person didn't have an account or e-mail to reply to, so I'm answering their question here

**er1nsg1rl:** Where in the movie do they show Ryo in the Digital World? Besides, he already showed up in chapter 2 to help fight the Parasimon, right before Henry and Terriermon got captured. He shows up again later on in this chapter. But thanks for the review!

And now for the story.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Deep Breath Before the Plunge**

The Wong family stood huddled together in the cold, dark rain on the front stoop of the house as Janyu fished some keys out of his pocket. What was left of their family, at least. Mayumi, Janyu's wife, was away on a business trip in Shanghai, and Henry…. God only knew where he was.

The streetlights flickered on and off, making it hard for Janyu to see what he was doing in the darkness. Finally, he managed to get the door open, and shepherded his three remaining children and Lopmon inside. Now that Shinjuku had been evacuated, they were staying at Mayumi's brother-in-law's house. He and his wife were on an extended vacation in India, and their kids were in college, which meant that the house would be empty for the next few weeks anyways.

"Hey Dad, when's Mom coming back?" Jaarin, his 17-year-old daughter, asked as she took off her jacket and hung it up.

"I don't know," he admitted. "All flights in and out of Tokyo have been grounded. She's going to see if she can get a plane to somewhere outside the city, but it may be a while."

"What about Henry?" Rinchei asked; Jaarin didn't elbow her older brother fast enough to stop him from asking the question.

Janyu's face tightened. "I don't know," he said quietly after a minute. Rinchei and Jaarin exchanged worried looks, while Suzie looked curiously from one sibling to the next, and then at her father, and then back again. Lopmon looked tense.

Janyu knew that Henry and Suzie had been near downtown Shinjuku when first the train Digimon (he assumed it was a Digimon) and then the Parasimon had appeared there. Suzie had returned home safely (thank God), but Henry hadn't told her where he'd gone when he left her at the train station. Knowing him, he'd probably gone off to fighting the things that appeared.

But the fighting between the children's Digimon and the Parasimon had ended a few hours ago. Henry should have come home by now, or at least have called his cell phone. Judging by the looks on his older children's faces, they were thinking along the same lines.

They divided up rooms, and Janyu ordered Chinese take out while his children unpacked their things. Dinner was quiet. Even Suzie was less bubbly than usual. After putting away the dishes, it was quarter of ten.

"You should all go to bed," he told them. They left, without complaining for once. Maybe they realized this was not a good time to test their father's patience. Janyu wasn't the least bit tired. Besides, Henry might call…

He was worried. Any parent would be. That was what he hated most about having his children be Tamers. Waiting. Not knowing. _I wonder how the other children's parents cope with it? _Maybe this was fate's way of punishing him for being involved in that artificial intelligence project. For playing God. As a scientist, he'd never really believed in things like karma, but there were days like this…

He was half-dozing when his cell-phone suddenly rang, loudly. He jumped and started to fish for his phone in his pocket, hopes rising. Upstairs, he heard the thump of several feet running down the hallway. Finally retrieving his cell phone, he checked the Caller ID. The number was unknown, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Maybe Henry's phone had dead, and he was borrowing someone else's.

The pounding of feet stopped. Absently, he realized his other children were probably eavesdropping from the stairwell. He flipped open the phone and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Wong?" It wasn't Henry. His heart deflated.

"Yes, who is this?" he asked.

"Uh, this is Kenta," a nervous voice answered. _Who? _Janyu wondered."I'm, uh, I'm a friend of Henry's, and uh-"

Then Janyu remembered: Kenta was the dweeby kid who hung out with Takato. He'd always liked him. Kenta reminded him of what he'd been like as a teenager. "Yes?" he prompted.

"Listen, um, something happened, today, to Henry…" It took a few minutes of stammering and prompting before Kenta had told him what happened.

Janyu nearly dropped the phone. A cold dread filled his chest; a part of him refused to accept it. It couldn't be happening. For a solid minute he couldn't say anything.

"Um? Mr. Wong? Are you there? Hello?" Kenta asked nervously.

"Yeah, I'm here," he said finally. "Where is he now?"

"I- I don't know," Kenta admitted.

"You left him?" Janyu said his voice cold.

"W-what?"

"You left him there? Why didn't you try to save him?"

"We _did_ try," Kenta protested. "But there were too many of them, and Ryo got hurt, and-"

"So? Why didn't you try harder?" His voice rose. "There weren't _that_ many of them!" When no one answered, Janyu realized that Kenta must have hung up. He couldn't blame the kid. He felt bad now, for yelling at him.

He heard the creak of floorboards and sound of hushed whispers; his children were now going back to their rooms. Janyu suppressed a groan. In his frustration he had forgotten that they were listening. Who knew what they were thinking after that performance?

Speaking of his children, what was he going to tell them? He would have to tell Rinchei and Jaarin. They were adults, or nearly so in Jaarin's case, and were entitled to know. He would also have to tell his wife, though he didn't look forward to that one bit. The advantage of her being in China was that she couldn't do anything more than yell at him.

Suzie, though was another matter entirely. She was old enough that it was hard to justify keeping things like this from her. On the other hand, if he did tell her, she might decide to go haring off in search for her big brother. He could _not_ lose another child.

He leaned and tried to think of something else. He didn't want to spend the next few days, or week, or however long it took, sitting and waiting. He needed to _do_ something. But what? He wished he had a Digimon partner. Then he could look for his son by himself.

Then the answer came to him. It was so mind-bogglingly obvious, he was embarrassed for not thinking of it earlier. Janyu pulled out his cell phone and started dialing.

* * *

Jeri leaned back in her seat and rested her head against the car's side window, staring out into the dark and rainy night. "Some day this has been, huh Calumon?" she murmured. The tiny Digimon nodded glumly, his ears shrunken. Given that it was 10:40 at night, traffic was unusually heavy, moving at almost a snail's pace. Earlier, Jeri had seen on TV that thousands of people were still being evacuated from central Tokyo, eight hours after the disaster started. Since the trains computer systems were still down (or something like that), and the government had closed a number of major roads, all remaining routes out of Tokyo were completely jammed.

That didn't mean Jeri had been sitting in traffic for the past eight hours. She had been at the Nonaka's house when they were evacuated. She wasn't able to contact her parents (they didn't have cell phones), so she went with Rika's mother and grandmother to one of their family member's homes. It was only a couple hours ago that Jeri's parents had finally called. Mrs. Hata, Rika's grandmother, was now driving her to the hotel-turned-emergency-shelter where Jeri's family was staying.

Jeri glanced sideways at Mrs. Hata. She had always thought the woman looked a little too young to be a grandmother. But at that moment, Mrs. Hata looked a decade older than she normally did. It wasn't hard to guess why.

_The phone rang three times before Jeri realized no one else would answer it. Mrs. Hata was in the shower, and her niece was out running errands. Muting the TV, Jeri picked up the phone and answered it._

_ "Hello?"_

_ "Hi, is Mrs. Nonaka there?" The voice was young and male; it sounded familiar, but she couldn't place where she'd heard it before. _

_ "No, she's out at the moment. Who is this?"_

_ "Um, Ryo. Ryo Akiyama."_

_ Jeri was surprised, to say the least. "Ryo?"_

_ "Yeah. Listen, could you tell her to-"_

_ For once Jeri interrupted someone. "Ryo, it's me. Jeri."_

_ "Oh. Hey Jeri." Now it was his turn to sound surprised- and for whatever reason, oddly uncomfortable. But Jeri didn't care about that at the moment. She had other concerns on her mind._

_ "Ryo, listen," she said quickly. "You were in downtown Shinjuku today, weren't you?" _

_ "Yeah..." He didn't need to ask her to know that by "downtown" she meant "involved in the fight."_

_ "Is everyone else alright? I saw some of the fighting on TV, but..." she trailed off._

_ "Yeah, um, that's sort of... why I called..." Her heart sank. Already, she knew the news had to be bad._

_ "Did you see the, uh, vortex thingy that appeared in Shinjuku today?" he asked._

_ "Of course." It would have been hard not to see it._

_ "Well that was a gate to the Digital World. And, uh, Takato and Rika… sort of got sucked into it." . _

_Jeri slowly sunk into a chair. "Wh- what?" Calumon looked up at her anxiously from the silent TV screen._

_ "But I'm sure they're fine!" Ryo added hastily. "I mean, I know the Digital World no theme park and all, but you've seen it. It's nothing the two of them can't handle." _

_ "R- right," she murmured, leaning back in her chair. "Have you called Takato's parents?" They would be worried, like Rika's mother and grandmother, when their son didn't come home. _

_ "Yeah, Kazu's calling them. Kenta's calling Henry's parents."_

_ "Wait a minute!" Jeri shot up out of her chair. "Has something happened to Henry?"_

_ "Oh, um, yeah." He told her what had happened. _

_ "You're... you're kidding," Jeri breathed once he'd finished._

_ "Wish I was." Ryo sounded somewhat bitter._

_Neither said anything for a long moment as Jeri tried to grapple with this turn of events. Was it really possible? Finally, she said, "Is everyone else all right?" She didn't want any more unpleasant surprises._

"_Yeah, they're fine." _

_She sighed, relieved. Thank God. "Tell me how it happened."_

_He told her. He couldn't give her as much detail as she wanted; he hadn't been present for all of it._

_When he finished, she let out a breath. "What will you do now?" _

_He didn't answer immediately. "I'm sorry, Jeri. But we can't go after them. Takato and Rika I mean." He spoke rapidly, not giving her an opening to cut into. "Even if we could go to the Digital World, we'd only wind up stuck there ourselves. And we can't leave Henry and Terriermon, or the city, with the way things are right now… You know what I mean?"_

_It then occurred to Jeri that she was not the only one affected by these events. She knew that Ryo was good friends with Rika- more than that in her opinion, though Takato and the others were skeptical. She wondered how he was taking this. But she didn't know him well enough to feel comfortable asking._

_She knew what it was like, not being able to help a friend in trouble. "It's alright. I understand," she said. "I'll tell Rika's mom what happened."_

"_Are you sure? I can call back later and tell her."_

"_No, it's alright. Thanks for offering though." They said their goodbyes, and she hung up. _

_Calumon looked up at her, worry writ on his face. "Jeri? What's wrong?" _

_She sunk to her knees and cried._

Jeri's eyes still felt sore from the tears. She was glad, though, that she'd managed to get herself under control before Mrs. Hata had returned, and that she hadn't broken down again while telling her what'd happened. That would only have upset the poor woman more.

She still had trouble accepting it. Three of her closest friends in the world were gone…

"We're here."

Jeri started. She'd been so lost in thought and memory even Mrs. Hata's quiet voice made her jump.

"Oh, um, thanks for the ride Mrs. Hata." Jeri started to get out of the car.

"Wait," Mrs. Hata said. She didn't look at Jeri. She stared, her expression unreadable in the dim light, at the steering wheel. "Jeri, I'm sorry to make you wait, but I need to know something first. You've been to that place, haven't you?"

"You mean the Digital World?"

"Yes."

Jeri grimaced. She didn't like talking about the Digital World. She didn't even like thinking about it. She had few good memories of that place. "Well, yes, I have."

"How dangerous is it?"

Jeri opened her mouth, and then closed it. How should she answer? The truth? Leomon had died there, as had a number of other Digimon, for no good reason. She knew it was a harsh place. But should she tell Rika's worried grandmother that?

Ryo's words came back to her: _"It's nothing they can't handle." _ He'd lived there long before the rest of them even knew the Digital World actually existed; he would know. Of course, he may have only been telling her that to keep her from worrying.

But if that were true, she was starting to understand how he must have felt. "They came home safe last time," she murmured to Mrs. Hata. "They can do it again." Jeri wasn't sure if she was right about that. But it seemed to be what the older woman needed to hear.

"Thank you."

* * *

When Ryo woke it was still dark out. He glanced at his alarm clock and groaned. _5:30._ He still had two and a half hours before he had to meet Kazu and Kenta. He knew it would be a long day, so he tried to go back to sleep.

His brain wouldn't let him. Now that he was conscious, he couldn't stop thinking. It was impressive, how screwed up things had become in the past 24-hours. Takato and Rika were gone. Henry was possessed by evil pink spiders. And said spiders had taken over most of the Shinjuku area.

_Gives new meaning to "World turned upside down._"

At quarter of seven, he gave up on sleep and got out of bed to get dressed. If he could have had his way, he would have gone out to fight on his own as soon as he'd woken up, and left Kazu and Kenta behind.

He preferred working alone. Most of the major battles he'd fought as a Tamer, he'd had no one but Cyberdramon to help him. More often than not, fighting with others simply meant having more people to look after and distract him.

He'd worked with Takato, Rika, and Henry to beat the D-Reaper because there wasn't any other option. It had helped, though, that the three of them had proven as capable of taking care of themselves in a fight as he was.

But it was different with Kazu and Kenta. Guardromon was only Champion level. And although MarineAngemon was a Mega, he specialized more in healing and defense. Useful, but not in the thick of a fight.

Ryo had tried suggesting that maybe the two of them should stay home the previous night when they'd discussed their plans for today. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to ask that; he'd gotten the answered he should've expected: "Hell no," accompanied by looks of pure "are-you-nucking-futz?"

Thinking it over, Ryo supposed that he would have said the same if he was in their shoes. Also, as long as they were all fighting the Parasimon, it didn't make sense to not coordinate their efforts.

Still, though… Ryo had always felt a little out of place when he was with the other Tamers; never quite "part of the group." A lot of that had to do with the fact that he'd lived in Kyushu (a five hour train ride from Tokyo) up until about a year ago. So he'd only ever seen the Tamers during summer break and other holidays, when he was visiting his mother. But Kazu and Kenta's attitudes of borderline hero-worship towards him had always made him feel even more awkward around them.

When Ryo finished getting his clothes on, he went downstairs to find something to eat. It surprised and discomforted him to find his father sitting at the kitchen, a mug of black coffee in one hand.

"Um, hey dad."

"Morning Ryo." It was hard to figure out what his father was thinking at the moment. For a moment, Ryo just stood there, unable to think of what to say or do. An awkward silence descended.

Finally electing to act like everything was normal, and like he wasn't going to leave and fight monsters to save the world or die trying, Ryo hurried to the refrigerator and rummaged around.

There was a minute's uncomfortable silence. Ryo realized he'd picked up the same box of frozen waffles three times and put it back. _Blueberry. I hate blueberries._

"Shut the door, you'll run up the power bill," his dad grumbled.

Ryo pulled out the box of waffles and shut the door. He popped one in the toaster oven and waited awkwardly, drumming his fingers on the counter.

"You're going, aren't you?" his dad said, after what seemed like eons.

"Um…" Was there any point in lying? "Yeah…"

"Nothing I can do to stop you?"

"No."

His father sighed. "Right then. Figured it was worth a shot. But promise me two things." He looked at Ryo hard.

Ryo swallowed. "What?"

His father held up a finger. "First, if you're not back by dark, call me." He raised a second finger. "And second, call your mother and tell her what you're doing."

Ryo blinked. "Call mom?"

"If she heard it from me, she'd probably try to take away dual custody," he said dryly. "That's what I'd do if she told me she'd let you do something as insane as this."

The toaster dinged. Ryo got out a shallow bowl, poured in about an inch of maple syrup, and started dunking his waffle on it. He'd been eating waffles like that for so long his dad no longer made fun of him for it. "Sure."

He started back up for his room before it got any more awkward, but his father stopped him. "One more thing. They may evacuate this place while you're gone. Pack a bag of stuff you want me to take if that happens. You know, changes of clothes and other stuff your mom would tell you to bring."

Ryo nodded, and fled up the stairs with his plate and box of blueberry waffles before his dad could think of anything else to say. Once in his room, Ryo opened the window.

"Hey Cyberdramon," he called. The large Digimon was sleeping on the roof of his garage, conveniently located next Ryo's bedroom. "Hey, wake up." Cyberdramon lifted his head and growled. "I brought you breakfast." Ryo tossed him the box of frozen waffles. _It's not like anyone else'll eat them._

Cyberdramon caught it and ate it, box and all. Ryo laughed. Whatever else could be said about his partner, he was not a picky eater. He went to his closet and started packing a backpack, like his dad asked. He packed light: just a few changes of clothes, his cell phone charger, his mp3 player, and some batteries.

When he finished, he glanced at the clock. He had half an hour before he had to meet the others, but he decided he might as well leave now and be early rather than sit there for another 10 minutes twiddling his thumbs.

Instead of going downstairs and leaving through the front door however, he climbed out his window onto the garage roof. He knew he was taking the coward's way out, avoiding saying goodbye to his dad like that. He tried not to think about that too much, trying to think about strategies for that day instead. "C'mon Cyberdramon," he said softly. "We're going."

Hiraoki Akiyama watched from the front door as his son and his Digimon flew over the rooftops and disappeared. _I gotta be the world's worst dad._

_

* * *

_A/N: Chapter four folks! This is by far my shortest chapter yet. The irony is that this chapter also makes this the longest story I've posted here. Not as much action here; the purpose of this chapter was to be a "breather chapter;" characters still in the Real World are digesting what's happened so far, and preparing for what's coming next.

Now, a minor rant: for some reason, I find Ryo very difficult to write. The problem I've had is that, in the anime he's basically a Gary Stu, with no real character flaws. This doesn't mean I dislike him. Unlike most Stus, the writers seemed aware of his Stuish-ness, and didn't let him hijack the entire show (which is one thing that makes Sues and Stus so annoying). Plus, the "witty-banter" thing he had with Rika made him likeable (to me at least). It also kept him from from completely falling into the "all the good guys worship the ground he walks on" trap, another defining characteristic of Sues/Stus.

However, by necessity, Ryo's role in this fic will be much bigger than in the series, and Takato and Rika are going to be stuck in the Digital World for a **very** long time. So I've had a hard time figuring out how to write him in a way that's interesting and three-dimensional, but without completely abandoning established a lighter note, although they don't appear in this chapter, writing Kazu and Kenta is a lot of fun. More on that later.

Oh, and some advice to other fanfic writers: reread your work before you post it. I was rereading the scene with Jeri from this chapter yesterday, and I realized that in the original scene there was no explanation for why Jeri was in a car, or where she was going (even at the end of the scene, when they finally get there). It wouldn't have derailed the plot, but it _would_ have been kind of confusing.

I've also found that it helps if you wait a while before rereading your own work. If you don't wait, you're more likely to just skim it over, because it's still relatively fresh in your mind. That way, you end up missing mistakes (this is especially true if you feel impatient to post the next chapter as soon as it's written). But if you write something, leave it for awhile (maybe work on later chapters or other projects), and _then_ come back to it, you can read it with a fresher perspective. That way, you can catch problems you might have overlooked the first time around (Though you probably don't need to wait a year and a half, like I did. A few weeks is fine).

I've been writing fanfiction off-and-on for over five years (ACK!); it took me about four and a half years to figure out how much of a difference this can make.

And as always, please read and review.


	5. Geurilla

**Chapter 5: Guerilla**

**Day 2**

_Beep beep beep beep beep- _whack.

Janyu groaned awake as he slammed his alarm clock off. He felt like he was back in high school, when getting up at six in the morning seemed more torturous than any circle of hell. He'd gone to bed late, and had lain wake, tossing and turning until two or three in the morning. A part of him wanted to sleep for another five minutes (or ten, or twenty, or ninety) like he'd done as a teenager. But this was too important.

Groaning some more, he slowly eased himself out of bed, trying to work the stiffness out of his aching muscles. He was tempted to think some cliché, like, _I'm getting too old for this, _but he wasn't even 60. He refused to think of himself as old yet.

Once he'd located his glasses, Janyu made his way downstairs, fervently hoping that the friend who owned this place had coffee makings somewhere. To his surprise, though, he wasn't the first one in the kitchen when he got there.

Suzie and Lopmon were at the kitchen table with Lopmon standing on a chair. Spread out on the table were several items, including a compass, a flashlight, a watch, a few candy bars, and a bright pink wallet, among others. Suzie and Lopmon were in the process of sorting through these things and putting them into Suzie's pastel blue, dolphin-patterned backpack when he came in. She gave a guilty start when she saw him, like a child caught coming home after curfew.

Then Suzie's mouth set into a stubborn line, one that vaguely reminded him of something, though he couldn't remember what. Lopmon looked apprehensively from one to the other. All of this should have made him warier than he was, but he was too tired to fully process it.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"Out," Suzie said simply, as she resumed packing her bag. "To fight. And to find Henry."

His eyes narrowed. "You mean _Lopmon's_ going to fight," he corrected.

"Yeah. And I'm gonna go with her, " she said stubbornly.

Janyu rubbed his forehead tiredly. He didn't need this. Not now. "You can't Suzie. You're too young." Her eyes flashed at that last bit, and he knew at once it was the wrong thing to say. As she opened her mouth to argue he quickly went on, "Lopmon can go and look for your brother. But you're staying here."

"But Dad, I'm a _Tamer!_" she protested. "And Tamers have to fight with their partners when they fight! It's like, in the rules!"

He was starting to get angry with her. Se was talking like a child, like she didn't even know what fighting really meant… "I already said no," he said, trying to keep his voice from rising too much. When she looked like she wanted to argue some more, he cut her off. "No means no Suzie. If you can't accept that, you can go to your room!"

"But-"

"_Now_ Suzie!"

She gave him the most hateful look an eleven year old could manage before whirling around and storming up the stairs, slamming the door behind her. Several seconds later, he heard another door slam upstairs. He sighed and started making coffee. He was half way through setting up the machine when he realized that Lopmon was hovering nervously at the bottom of the stairs.

Because Lopmon was more mature that Suzie, Janyu had turned to her on more than one occasion for help in managing his daughter. He did so now. "Can't you talk some sense into her?" he asked desperately.

Lopmon looked away. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wong, but I can't." He stared at her. How could Lopmon not side with him on this one? His daughter's life could be at risk!

"You agree with her? You _want_ her to be danger?" he asked incredulously.

"I don't _want_ any of this!" Lopmon snapped, making him jump a little. More calmly, she continued, "But if either of us is going to be useful in this fight… She'll have to come with me. Please, let me explain," she added quickly when he looked ready to interrupt. "In the past, Suzie's been able to use her Digivice to talk to me and give me power from a distance. But that's changing. The signal, or whatever it is that connects us, starts to break up when she's far away from me, like, like a cell phone when you travel underground. I'll lose power, and it gets harder for us to hear each other. And it's been getting worse over the past couple of years." Lopmon's long ears curled, like she was balling them into fists. "In one of our last battles, I de-Digivolved halfway through," she added quietly.

Janyu stared at her, confused now. "Why is it getting worse? What's changed?"

She answered with another question instead. "Haven't you ever wondered why Henry, or any of the older children, couldn't help their partners from a distance?"

"They have to Biomerge, right?" His eyes narrowed. "Wait, you said 'older children.' You think that's the reason."

Lopmon nodded. "The only other Tamers with Suzie's ability are Ai and Mako; they were even younger than her when they got their partner. And they've started to have the same problems we have."

"So, you think that only very young children have this, this… long distance Taming ability," Janyu said slowly. "And Suzie is losing it… because she's growing up?" Lopmon nodded. "But she's _not_ grown up! She's still just a little girl!" he protested.

"She's almost as old as Henry was when he went to the Digital World," Lopmon pointed out quietly.

Janyu winced. He should have expected her to say that. But Suzie was still just a girl… He changed tacks. "Why, though? Why does growing up matter at all? If the Digital World gave her that ability along with her Digivice, why should it take it away?"

"I don't know. That's just the pattern we've seen. But it _is _happening, and I don't think we can change it." She sounded almost bitter.

Janyu sighed and sat down at the table, burying his face in his hands. A part of him had hoped that finding holes in her theory would make everything better somehow. All he had for his trouble were dead ends and brick walls, and he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Thanks, Lopmon, for helping me understand," he said finally.

She hesitated. "Will you let her go with me, then?"

It was a very long minute before he could say, "I'm sorry, but I can't. I'm this close to losing one kid to those monsters. I- I'm not sure I could handle losing another."

Lopmon said nothing. She may not have known _what _to say. Without a word she slipped upstairs. Janyu finished his coffee and had something to eat. By the time he was done, he'd had a chance to think some more about what Lopmon had said, and come up with an idea.

He tiptoed quietly up the stairs and knocked softly on the door to his daughter's room. There was no answer. Mildly worried, he opened the door. Suzie was on the bed, lying on her stomach with her face buried in the pillow. Lopmon sat next to her, trying to comfort her. Lopmon looked up when he came in, but Suzie continued to lie there. She had to have heard him, but she didn't move.

"Suzie?" Still no response. He sighed. He'd seen this before: when she was mad at someone, she showed it by making a point of giving them the silent treatment. He kneeled on the floor next to the bed. "Suzie, I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier," he said quietly. Her shoulders twitched, but that was all. He kept at it. "I'll make a deal with you," he continued. "I'm going to Hypnos to see Mr. Yamaki and his friends. They're going to help us find Henry, and fight off those Parasimon."

"I don't care!" Suzie said angrily, her voiced muffled by the pillows.

He sighed. "Suzie," he said, unable to keep a touch of exasperation out of his voice, "if you come with me to Hypnos, we'll be able to tell you right away if we find out where your brother is. You can pass that on to Lopmon so she'll know where to look." Once again, he got no response. He looked at Lopmon in an appeal for help. She gave him a sympathetic look, but shook her head. He would get no support from her. That annoyed him, really. It was a perfectly reasonable proposal, and Suzie would listen if her partner said as much.

An idea came to him, and he added, "You can do more to help your brother if you're at Hypnos than with Lopmon." Still, no response. He sighed. "You don't have to decide right now. I need to get a few more things ready. I'll be back in a few minutes." Quietly, he left and went downstairs.

Janyu had phrased his plan like a request, but really, it wasn't. He had no intention of letting her stay at home now. If he did, then she'd probably try to sneak out the minute he left, and he didn't really trust his older children to be able to stop her. If she was at Hypnos, he could keep a better eye on her, and there would be security guards to prevent her from leaving.

If Suzie rejected his idea, well, he'd have to make her come with him. But he didn't want to do that if he didn't have to. That would only make her harder to deal with. His other three children had gone through something similar to what she was going through now, even mild-mannered Henry, and Janyu knew what it meant. Suzie had decided that she was no longer a "little kid." If she decided that any adult (particularly her parents) was still treating her "like a kid," she would react like it was a deadly insult to her ego. Suzie was angry enough with him right now that anything remotely like an order would set her off again. Hence, his effort to give her the appearance of choice.

He needn't have worried. A few minutes later, Suzie slinked down the stairs, glowering. "I'll go."

* * *

Kazu, Kenta, Ryo and their respective partners all met at the entrance to the flood tunnel under the city. The military had blocked off all routes in and out of Shinjuku (more to keep the journalists and curiosity seekers out than to keep the Parasimon in, as conventional weapons did nothing to stop the latter).

The only way around the blockade was to go over or under it. If they flew over it, there was a danger that the military might think the Digimon were a threat and open fire. Which left the tunnel as their only viable option. Luckily, it seemed like no one had remembered to guard it.

They'd agreed the previous night to meet at the tunnel entrance at 8. Kenta was the last to arrive. "What took you so long?" Kazu demanded, arms akimbo. "We've been waiting for, like, 20 minutes." Ryo glanced at his watch. _7:23. Guess no one's enthused to get started, huh?_ he thought sarcastically.

Kenta glared at his friend. "Unlike some of us," he panted irritably. "I don't have a partner that's big enough to carry me. So I had to walk. And why do you have a golf club?" He pointed at the club Kazu had been swinging idly in his hand.

"This thing?" Kazu stopped swinging it and held it up. "I picked it up yesterday. Thought it might come in handy again today."

"You're weird, you know that?"

"Not as weird as you."

"Now that we're all here," Ryo cut in before they could get any more sidetracked, "We should probably figure out what we're going to do."

They all looked at him blankly. "I thought we'd discussed that," said Guardromon. "Save MegaGargomon and kick Parasimon butt, right?" The last phrase sounded odd in Guardromon's mechanical voice; Ryo wondered if he was quoting Kazu.

"And not getting killed," Kenta added.

"That too," Guardromon nodded.

"Yeah, but I'm talking more specific than that," Ryo explained. "We shouldn't go charging in there without some sort of plan."

"Wait, since when have we had plans?" Guardromon asked; Kazu elbowed him. Ryo ignored them both.

"Me and Cyberdramon will focus on saving Henry. You guys focus the Parasimon."

"Hang on a sec." Kenta frowned. "Wouldn't it make more sense for _all_ of us to focus on saving Henry first, and _then_ worry about the Parasimon?"

Ryo shook his head. "The Parasimon only left us alone when it didn't look like the one on Henry's back was in any immediate danger. We'll have to deal with them no matter what, and the more we can destroy today, the sooner all this'll be over."

"Whatever," Kazu said, drumming his fingers on the club handle impatiently. "Can we just go already?"

They walked through the tunnel in a slightly awkward silence, occasionally saying things like "Eugh, it smells like a port-a-potty in here," "Whaddaya think we're stepping in?" and "Woah, look at the size of that cockroach!"

When Ryo was starting to wonder when they'd reach the end, they found the reason why no one was guarding the tunnel entrance. In front of them, stretching from floor to ceiling, was an enormous pile of rubble. The biggest gap Ryo could see was about the size of his shoe.

"Great," Kenta groaned. "It's caved in."

"Crash," MarineAngemon squeaked in agreement.

"Well," Kazu said, hands on hips, "Let's do this the not-so-subtle way. Guardromon?"

"Right," He aimed. "Guardian Barrage!"

All of them ducked as the explosion sent bits of cement and concrete flying every which way; they scrambled for cover. As the dust settled, the six of them observed Guardromon's handiwork. He had made a dent, but mostly it looked like all he had done was send rubble flying.

"Lot of good that did," Cyberdramon muttered.

Kenta walked up to the edge of the pile and walked from side to side, looking at it from different angles. "The slope of this thing's pretty steep," he remarked. "It must be packed pretty thick, except maybe at the top."

Kazu scowled. "Well then we'll just keep blasting til we get through."

"No you idiot," Cyberdramon growled. "You might cause another cave in." Frankly, it was surprising that the first attempt hadn't already done so.

"So what do you think we should do instead?" Kazu demanded.

In the end, they clambered to the top of the pile and started digging, following Kenta's hypothesis that the rubble was thinnest there. It took a while to get through, and even longer to make a hole big enough for Guardromon and Cyberdramon to fit through.

But once they made it through, the end of the tunnel was only a few feet away. Sweaty and dirty, they emerged into the daylight.

"Holy-" Kazu stopped dead in the doorway.

"What? What is it?" Kenta demanded, shoving his friend out of the way. Uncharacteristically, Kazu made no objection. Kenta, too, stopped short, his mouth hanging open. Ryo peered over his friend's shoulder- not hard to do, since he was foot taller- and saw what had them staring agape.

On the buildings a few blocks away in front of them, he saw- webs. They were everywhere, covering the skyscrapers, and spanning the streets and other spaces between buildings.

_Like spider webs on steroids. _He assumed it was the same material they had zapped him with yesterday. That would make their job a lot harder, having to fight the Parasimon and steer clear of the Electric Fence From Hell at the same time. The only upside was that for whatever reason, the webbing never seemed to go too far below about ten feet above street level.

"Do you mind?" Guardromon said somewhat irritably. The three humans plus MarineAngemon hastily moved away from the door.

Guardromon and Cyberdramon were too big to fit through the human-sized door. But a well aimed Desolation Claw took care of that problem. They coughed as the smoke cleared and the two large Digimon emerged through the violently renovated doorway.

"You think they'll be mad at us for blowing up the door?" Kenta wondered.

Kazu scoffed. "C'mon, man. If we save this city, who's gonna care about a little small-scale destruction?"

Guardromon glanced around, noting the lack of enemy Digimon trying to kill them. "Where do you suppose everyone is?" The area was devoid of life, including birds and annoying mosquitoes, even though it was summer. Even MegaGargomon, who was several stories tall and therefore difficult to miss, was nowhere to be seen.

And then they heard it. High pitched chattering and soft clacking. The sources of the noise weren't far behind. Parasimon, hordes of them, scurrying on roof tops, webbing nets, sides of buildings, and any other available surface. The Parasimon lining the street directly in front of them parted to form a sort of aisle in the middle of the road.

"Um, this is… different…" said Kenta.

A figure emerged from a right-hand corner a few blocks down the street, turned walked towards them down the "aisle." Ryo assumed it was a Digimon, though at this distance he couldn't tell which kind. Although it was humanoid in shape, its head was too large and too bizarrely shaped to be human. But it turned out his assumption was only half correct.

Once again, Guardromon was the first to recognize it. Or them, rather. "It's Henry! And Terriermon!" Sure enough, it was. As they got closer, Ryo saw that what he'd thought was a head was actually Terriermon hanging off his partner's shoulder, as he often did.

"They've dedigivolved," Kenta said in surprise. "Why?"

"Holding your bio-merged form takes too much energy to do for long," Ryo answered.

"Oh."

Henry and Terriermon stopped a few feet outside the web-covered area, and a few hundred feet away from them. Henry's clothes were wrinkled and stained and slightly torn, and his hair was a mess, but otherwise he and Terriermon appeared to be alright. Except for their eyes. They had an unnaturally empty look to them. It was creepy, really.

Without preamble, Henry raised his Digivice in one hand. "Bio-merge Activate!"

"Terriermon bio-merge to-"

They both shone with a blinding green light. Ryo and the others took an instinctive step backwards as the jade-lit form grew at an exponential rate. While the glowing form took the familiar shape of MegaGargomon, Ryo glanced at Cyberdramon, who nodded.

"Remember the plan," he hissed to the others, before raising his own D-Arc. "Bio-merge Activate!" He settled into the form of Justimon (that was the best word to describe the feeling). He saw MegaGargomon rocket straight upwards, above the tops of the skyscrapers, presumably to get clear of the web-networks. It seemed that being possessed by Parasimon didn't make him immune to its effects.

_Fine by me._ Justimon took off after him. He lost track of the others after that. But before he could clear the buildings, MegaGargomon had unleashed his first attack.

"Mega Barrage!" Missiles rained on him like hellfire.

There were too many to dodge, so instead- "Voltage Blade!" Justimon managed to deflect most of them with his sword, not stopping his ascent. He came level with his opponent/friend and somersaulted over him, aiming his blade at MegaGargomon's back where he knew the Parasimon controlling him was (though it was invisible at the moment).

But MegaGargomon was faster than he expected- much faster, considering his size. He whirled around, lifted an arm, and knocked Justimon straight downwards, like spiking a volleyball over a net. Justimon just managed to stop himself midfall before he could hit the webs below. He came much, much closer then he would've liked.

Justimon launched himself back up at MegaGargomon. It wasn't long before they settled on hand-to-hand combat, using kicks and punches instead of swords and missiles.

Theoretically, they should have been evenly matched, MegaGargomon's superior strength compensating for Justimon's advantage in speed and agility.

But it didn't take long for Ryo to realize just how much of a disadvantage he was at. To put it simply, Justimon had to hold back for fear of seriously injuring Henry and Terriermon. Worse, the webs covering the buildings and spaces in between below meant that if one of them fell, there were few places to land that weren't covered by the stuff- especially for MegaGargomon, considering his size.

As Ryo had learned the previous day, if one of them got stuck to it, it would very likely kill them. And there would be no MarineAngemon to save them. He essentially had to fight with one hand tied behind his back. MegaGargomon had no such constraints- or rather, the Parasimon controlling him didn't.

MegaGargomon's arm swung from out of nowhere, sending him flying backwards. Justimon caught and steadied himself in midair. He circled around a bit before charging. MegaGargomon was ready for him.

"Justice Burst!" But he knew before he fired that he would miss. MegaGargomon had already turned to block the blue energy bursts with his forearms. Justimon snarled in frustration. If he could only get a clear shot at MegaGargomon's back, he would be able to end it! But MegaGargomon was too good at keeping him from getting that chance. Frustratingly good.

He was starting to regret telling his friends not to help him fight- _save_ MegaGargomon. The only good news was that the other Parasimon were nowhere in sight. He chose to take that as a sign that Kazu and the others were successful with their part of the plan. His part had been a dismal failure so far. Then again, it hadn't been a brilliant plan to start with.

* * *

As Justimon and MegaGargomon took to the air to begin their fight, the rest of the group watched the Parasimon warily. But the Parasimon didn't seem remotely interested in fighting, or even in them. Instead, they cheered and jeered as they watched the fight proceed above.

"Don't they care that we're here?" Kenta muttered, adjusting his glasses.

"No," Guardromon replied bluntly.

"Oh, gee, how wonderful," Kenta groaned.

Kazu grinned wolfishly as hefted his golf club. "So why don't we _make_ them care?" He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Oi! Come 'n get us you ugly mudsuckers!" The Parasimon paid about as much attention to this as a nuclear bomb pays to a potato gun.

His friends gave him strange looks. "Mudsuckers?" Guardromon asked.

"….Look, just blow shit up for me, ok?"

"Guardian Barrage!" Guardromon launched some rockets at a cluster of them on the wall, causing it to rain pink spider bits all over the sidewalk. _Gross._ Thankfully, the mess quickly vanished in a puff of data.

Now sufficiently pissed off, the remaining surged towards heir little group. Kazu gulped and gripped his golf club. _Here goes_.

"Guardian Barrage!"

"Kahuna Waves!"

Guardromon and MarineAngemon let loose a volley of their respective attacks, meeting the surge head on. Kazu raised his golf club as a handful of Parasimon came at him. He swung hard. They tried to back off, but wound up crashing into each other. He felt his club connect with something solid. It was satisfying, really. But it also pissed the hell out of the one he'd hit.

"Giiiiiiiiii!" it screeched angrily. They regrouped and came at him again. He swung and swung and swung at them until he was essentially swinging at any moving object in his vicinity.

Suddenly, MarineAngemon screeched. "Watch where you swing that thing!" Kenta yelled angrily.

"Sorry!" Kazu dove left to dodge an oncoming Parasimon. But something grabbed his ankle and yanked backwards. "Oof!" he grunted as his side slammed painfully onto the hard sidewalk. He quickly sat up and saw the Parasimon had wrapped a tentacle around his ankle. His club had fallen out of reach. He shook his foot hard, banging it- and the tentacle- hard on the concrete, but the thing started dragging him in towards it. _Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit…_

"Guardian Barrage!" His partner incinerated it easily.

"Thanks man." Kazu stood up and grabbed his club off the ground. "Hey, Kenta, we've gotten six of 'em already!"

"Oh yeah?" his friend called back. "We've gotten nine!"

"Are you kidding me?" Kazu was dumbfounded. He couldn't be outdone by the likes of Kenta and his little pink cherub. "C'mon Guardromon!" He ducked inside an open printing store where he would be out of the way, pulling his cards out of his back pocket. He selected the one he wanted, and swiped it.

"Digi-Modify! Range Activate!" He watched Guardromon next attack through the store window.

"Guardian Barrage!" Defying the laws of reality, the missiles hit not only the Parasimon they hit directly, but several others in the vicinity as well.

Kazu grinned. _Now that's more like it._ Too bad there were restrictions on how frequently he could use a single card.

* * *

The elevator door slid open with a soft _ding._ Janyu stepped into the hallway with a slight grimace. These were the headquarters that Hypnos had relocated to when the D-Reaper first appeared on Earth. _I had a feeling I'd be back here someday,_ he thought. _I wish it hadn't happened so soon though._ He sighed.

"C'mon Suzie," he murmured.

His daughter followed him, ostentatiously not looking at him and dragging her feet. Lopmon wasn't with her, for once. The Digimon had left them once they got off the subway.

He swiped his keycard as the reached the headquarters' entrance. The locked beeped, and the light switched from red to green. The door slid open. In terms of décor and equipment, the room was as Janyu remembered it from last time. The one difference was that there weren't as many people as there usually had been last time. _Then again, it_ is_ only 7 in the morning. _His instincts told him there was a reason Yamaki had requested he come so much earlier than the others. They also told him he wouldn't like it.

"Janyu!" Tally Onodera waved as she ran over to him. "It's good to see you again. Although," she faltered for a moment, "I wish it could have been under better circumstances…"

Something about her tone told him she'd already heard about Henry. He returned her tired smile. "So do I. How are you?"

She yawned. "Exhausted. I'm finishing up the night shift. It sucks, but someone's gotta do it. Could be worse though. Yamaki's was on duty til midnight last night, and he got here this morning at around 4:30." She shook her head. "I honestly don't know why Riley puts up with it."

Janyu didn't know quite what she meant by that last bit, but he wasn't interested in pressing the issue. He glanced around. "Listen, is there somewhere Suzie could sit for today? Somewhere where I could keep an eye on her, but where she won't be in the way or anything?"

Tally glanced at Suzie curiously. "You brought your daughter with you?"

"My wife was on a business trip in Shanghai when this whole mess started," Janyu explained. "And all planes in and out of Tokyo have been grounded since yesterday. My other kids are old enough to take care of themselves for today, but Suzie…" he trailed off with a shrug. He didn't see any point in going into further detail.

The best Tally was able to procure was a folding chair in a corner, but Suzie was too focused on her and Antylamon's mission to care or even really notice what was happening around her.

Just as they got her settled, Yamaki emerged from his office and spotted them. "Janyu. Good, you're here. I need to talk with you in my office." He glanced at Tally. "Day shift just arrived. Go get some sleep."

Tally grinned tiredly. "No complaints here." She left.

After telling Suzie to call him if she needed anything, Janyu entered Yamaki's office. "Please, sit down," the younger man told him tersely, gesturing at a chair in front of his desk. Janyu complied, wary. "I heard about Henry," Yamaki said after a moment. "I'm… sorry." His voice sounded strange. _Comforting people is not this guy's forte,_ Janyu thought wryly.

"It's alright," he told him. It was a lie, really.

"You've read the briefing I sent you last night?" Yamaki asked. He sounded more in his element now, asking questions and giving orders.

Janyu nodded.

"Good. Right now, our main goal is to prevent the Parasimon from advancing any further. The problem is, conventional weapons don't work on Digital life-forms, as you already know. Hypnos is working on… unconventional weapons that will help, but they're still prototypes. The ones that aren't too dangerous, like Juggernaut, are too weak to be effective in the field. Frankly, I doubt we'll have anything usable for another three years, at least."

Most of this Janyu knew, or could've figured out on his own if he'd thought about it. He was about to say so, but Yamaki talked over him. "This means that the only ones who can do anything about the Parasimon are the Tamers. But as I said in my report, Takato Matsuki and Rika Nonaka both went through the Digital Gate that appeared yesterday in Shinjuku, along with their Digimon, into the Digital World. So in addition to assisting the Tamers who are still here, Hypnos' top priority is bringing them home as quickly as possible." Yamaki looked him straight in the eye. "I'm putting you on the team in charge of solving that project."

"_What?_" Janyu stood up, angry. "What about Henry? Damn it, Yamaki, I told you last night when you called me that getting him back was the only reason I was coming _back_ to this goddamned place! And now you're telling me-!"

"Hear me out!" Yamaki hissed. "_Think_ about this for a minute, Janyu! The only way to save your son is to remove or destroy the Parasimon on his back that's controlling him! But as long as our weapons don't affect the Parasimon, Hypnos can't do any thing to help him. The only ones who _can_ help him are his friends." Yamaki didn't need to specify which 'friends.' "And the only way to help them is to bring Takato and Rika home as soon as possible."

Janyu was seething. On some level, he knew Yamaki's arguments made sense. But he was too enraged to care. "You've never had children," he told him, his voice shaking. "You don't know what it's like, to wonder if you're ever going to see your child again."

"You're right. I don't," Yamaki said coldly. "But this is my operation, not yours. If you want to work here, you've got to do it my way. If you want to search for your son, go ahead. But you won't be able to do much without Hypnos' resources."

For a moment, Janyu looked as if he was going to say he'd do just that, and then storm out of the building. But something made him relent.

"Fine," he said. "I'll do it. But if Henry doesn't come back…" He didn't seem to know how to finish the sentence, and instead left the office in a hurry.

* * *

**Day 2, Evening**

"Kahuna Waves!" Kenta skidded to a halt as the Parasimon disintegrated a few feet in front of him. He glanced around quickly. They were in Shinjuku's commercial district, on a street lined with storefronts and apartment buildings. Abandoned cars lay half-smashed all over the place. The light was poor, with the networks of webbing half-blocking the sky.

"Any more of them?" he asked as MarineAngemon rejoined him. As if in answer, he heard a noise directly above him. Kenta looked up. One of the Parasimon was rappelling down from the cob-web like layers above, rapidly descending straight down on top of him.

"Giiiiii!" it screeched, half in free fall.

Kenta yelped and flinched.

"Puu!" his partner squeaked. The Parasimon exploded less than a foot above Kenta's head. He lowered his arms and looked for the next set of opponents. To his astonishment, there were none. Not that he thought for a moment they'd all gone. He could still hear them, chattering a few streets over, out of sight. Still, after spending what seemed like hours constantly fending off one Evil Pink Spider after another, the calm felt strange. But it wouldn't last. The chattering was getting louder, closer. And he was so tired…

"Let's get outta here." He made for the door of the nearest building it was locked.

_Damn._ He tried the next closest door. Also locked. Tension mounted in his chest. The Parasimon were getting closer. The third door he tried finally opened. It was a small bookstore, narrow enough that there was only just enough room for bookshelves to line the walls. That and the large storefront windows meant that most of the store was visible from the outside.

_Not good. _Kenta scrambled behind the only cover: a sales counter against one of the side walls. He sat perfectly still there, breathing shallowly, his heart pounding uncomfortably in his rib cage. The chattering grew louder and louder, until it sounded as though they were right outside. Then it steadily died away, until Kenta could no longer hear them no matter how hard he strained.

After a few minutes had passed, MarineAngemon floated cautiously upward to peer out the window.

"All gone," he announced. Kenta relaxed. It was only then that he able to enjoy the nice, refreshing feeling of being off his feet, after a long, tiring day…

Something poked him in the shoulder. "Kenta… Kenta… dude, wake up."

He opened his eyes and glanced around. He had fallen asleep with out realizing it.

"Oh, it's you," he said, seeing Kazu crouched on his haunches at the entrance to the gap between the counter and the wall.

"Weird place for a nap," his friend commented.

"Well, I was tired…" he muttered defensively, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He glanced around. When he'd come into the store, the light had been fading. Now it was dark, except for the few streetlights that hadn't been smashed up or broken during the fight. He saw Guardromon's outline in the window, standing just outside. "What time is it?"

"Dunno. Late."

Kenta managed to stand up, in spite of protests from his aching body after spending what must've been hours scrunched up in the narrow gap between the counter and the wall. He stretched, trying to work out the cramps. In the process, he accidentally hit a lamp on the counter, knocking it over with a very loud crash.

He winced, and not just because of the new pain in the back of his hand.

"Nice going," Kazu snickered.

"Shut up, it isn't funny," Kenta retorted. To his annoyance, Kazu only laughed more. "Help me find a light, will you?" Eventually, Kenta located a light switch on the wall behind the counter, and flipped on the lights. He looked at the mess he'd made and groaned. From the shard of glass and pottery on the ground, looked like the lamp had been old, probably valuable.

"Great. How much do you think that cost?"

Kazu shrugged, unconcerned. "Does it matter? No one's gonna know we did it. And if they did, do you really think they'd care?"

He had a point. And it wasn't as though Kenta had any money on him that he could leave behind to reimburse the store owner (and he doubted that Kazu would be willing to lend him his own money, assuming he had any on him).

Still, Kenta's goody-two shoes instincts insisted he at least clean up the mess. He had to do it by himself, since Kazu flatly refused to help. "You're the klutz, not me," he said.

When that had been taken care of, Kenta asked, "Hey, have you seen Ryo?"

Kazu frowned. "I saw him fighting MegaGargomon, above the Hypnos building, when it was getting dark. But not since then."

"You think they're ok?" Kenta asked, trying not to sound too worried.

"Of course!" Kazu answered. "Ryo's the legendary Tamer, isn't he?" But he said it a little too quickly and a little too confidently to be entirely believable.

"Maybe he went to the tunnel?" Kenta suggested. They hadn't agreed on a time and place to meet in case they got separated- an error, in retrospect- so it seemed like the most logical place. But, as Kazu pointed out, that was clear on the other side of the Shinjuku ward. They'd moved quite a distance over the course of the day. And there was no guarantee he would be there. There was also the fact that none of them had eaten a thing since morning, and were starving.

So they decided to postpone the search for Ryo and find a restaurant, or grocery store, or café, or some place that had food they could steal. They left the bookstore, turning off the lights and closing the door behind them.

Kenta didn't remember exactly how, but over the course of the day, he'd moved to an area a good distance outside the area covered by the Parasimon's webs. Fortunately, there seemed to be fewer Parasimon out here. They turned down the street, walking in the opposite direction of that place.

They found a fancy looking Chinese restaurant. Unfortunately, the door was bolted. So they kept looking, and found an ice cream store. Also locked.

After trying their fourth locked restaurant, Kazu declared, "Alright, screw this. We're breaking in."

Ordinarily, Kenta would have objected. But extreme hunger, combined with mounting frustration over these obstacles, beat down that instinct. They all backed away, as Guardromon blasted the door apart with one of his small missiles.

Not far away, someone yelled. Kenta heard the sound of running footsteps. It didn't _sound_ like a Parasimon- the voice had been low, and the footsteps sounded more like sneakers then the clicking of Parasimon feet on concrete or asphalt- but after the day he'd had, he wasn't going to take chances. He whirled around, in time to see Ryo come running around the corner.

Ryo halted upon seeing them, but only for a second. "Ryo!" Kenta called happily.

Ryo stopped in front of them, as the others echoed Kenta's greeting. "Are you guys ok?" Ryo panted. "I heard an explosion, and saw smoke here…" he stopped as he saw where the entrance to the restaurant had been less than a minute earlier. "Um… were you guys attacked or something?"

Kazu scratched his head, looking sheepish. "Uh… no. We were hungry, and we found this place… but it was locked, so Guardromon, uh…opened it for us," he explained.

Ryo stared at the gaping, still smoking hole that had been blasted open in the storefront. "Ummm… don't you think you over did it there a little?" he queried Guardromon. "I mean, you could've just kicked down the door or something."

"Yes, but then I wouldn't have been able to fit through," Guardromon answered. He might've gotten more sympathy, if he hadn't sounded so much like a sulky child when he said it.

Monodramon sniffed the air and grinned. "All right! Food!" He leapt off Ryo's shoulder and bounded inside. It was a little disorienting how different he was from Cyberdramon, Kenta thought as they followed him inside.

It was a cheap, fast food place, selling extremely greasy, but decent food. None of them could figure out how to turn on the grill, so they had to microwave whatever they found in the industrial sized refrigerator. Only after they had dug in at one of the tables did they bring each other up to date on they'd been doing that day.

Ryo and Monodramon had spent most of the day fighting MegaGargomon. When it started to get dark, both of them were too drained to continue holding their Mega forms, and had been forced to de-Digivolve. Ryo hadn't been able to find Henry or Terriermon after that.

"Hey, that reminds me," Kazu said suddenly, as Kenta finished telling his part of the story. "How many did you get?"

Kenta stared at him blankly. "Huh?" he and Ryo chorused.

"Parasimon. How many of 'em did you get?" Then Kenta remembered; their contest to see who could destroy more Parasimon.

_Crud._ In the excitement of the fighting, he'd clean forgotten to keep track.

"Umm…" he said, stalling, "uh… how many did _you_ get?" he asked.

"What?" Kazu looked startled- and suspiciously uncomfortable. "Uh, no, I asked you first."

Kenta narrowed his eyes. _Wait a minute… _ "Hey! You don't remember, do you?" The look on Kazu's face gave him away. "Ha! I knew it!" Kenta said triumphantly.

Kazu was quick to recover. "Well do _you_ remember?" he shot back.

"Uhhh…."

"So there!"

Ryo and Monodramon looked from one to the other, identical expressions of bemusement on their faces. "Um… I think I missed something," said Ryo.

* * *

Yamaki sank into his chair, massaging his temples. 36 hours since this fiasco had begun. Or was it 38? He'd lost count. After evacuating their facilities in West Shinjuku, Hypnos had relocated its operations to the same building they had used when the D-Reaper had taken over. In retrospect, it may have been better to pick another building as their alternate HQ. This place brought back a lot of bad memories for people who had been here back then. But they couldn't do anything about it now that they were settled in.

The one bit of good news was that, as far as they knew, Parasimon were diurnal. He would be able to go on break soon and get some sleep. The phone rang. He sighed and picked it up. "This is Yamaki," he said tiredly.

"Please hold for the Defense Minister." It sounded like a very stereotypical female secretary.

Defense Minister Tohru Kanzaka was Yamaki's boss. Once, Hypnos had been an independent black-ops agency, free to do pretty much whatever it needed to do to accomplish its mission, so long as it remained secret. But that had all changed after the D-Reaper attack, when the government had been forced to acknowledge Hypnos' existence. Facing accusations about sanctioning a rogue agency that freely violated privacy rights, the government had put Hypnos under the Defense Ministry's jurisdiction.

As politicians went, Kanzaka was alright. He had persuaded the Prime Minister to keep Yamaki as head of Hypnos, even when firing him would have boosted his party's standing in the polls.

The phone beeped, and Kanzaka's voice came on. He didn't even bother identifying himself, since Yamaki already knew who was calling. Instead he jumped directly to the point. "I just got out of a meeting with the Premier and the SDF generals," he said without preamble. "We looked at the reports you sent us today, and the Prime Minister issued orders for you to activate the Juggernaut as soon as possible."

For a brief moment Yamaki was unable to say anything at all. He had expected something like this too happen at some point, but not so soon, and not with so little warning. For a man who tried to prepare for anything and everything, it was pretty hard to take.

"You there?" Kanzaka queried after a minute of silence.

Yamaki found his voice. "Are you serious?"

"Did I stutter?"

"Sir, with all due respect, this is a mistake," Yamaki insisted. "The Tamers' Digimon will be forced to go back to the Digital World, and we'll lose our only line of defense against-"

Kanzaka cut him off. "I made that same argument to the Cabinet yesterday. But that was before I saw the reports on their progress today. With only three of them, it'll take weeks to get rid of all of the Parasimon, and that's not considering how long the brainwashed kid will drag things out. We have the ability to stop this right now-"

It was Yamaki's turn to interrupt. "Have you forgotten what happen after we destroyed the D-Reaper?" He was referring to the weeks before the Tamers had been able to bring their Digimon back to the Real World. A number of rogue Digimon had Bio-Emerged, and without the Tamers to stop them, they had been able to run rampant for weeks at a time. Most had been Rookies (thankfully), but they were still able to cause a lot of damage and even kill a few people before the government forces could capture them and force them through portals back to the Digital World.

Yamaki could almost hear the Defense Minister scowling through the phone. "Don't try to make me the villain here Yamaki," Kanzaka snapped. "I don't want a repeat of that, but it's better than what we're facing now. Besides, you had no problem using Juggernaut back then."

"That was different. The D-Reaper could have erased the whole world. The Parasimon are only a threat to Tokyo, and we'll be able to drive them out eventually."

"Eventually?" Kanzaka was starting to sound angry. "Eventually? Do you know how many people have been killed during this fiasco?"

Though he was loathe to admit to not knowing something, there was really no way to fudge it. "No."

"103, plus 230,000 evacuated. And counting. The government's setting up shelters in convention centers and stadiums and all that in the suburbs, but it just can't handle that many people at once. Pretty soon we'll have a humanitarian crisis on our hands. And don't forget what happened in the election after the D-Reaper attack."

Yamaki ground his teeth. Politics. He should have known that that was what this was really about. The spineless cabinet was afraid that they would be crushed in the next election if they didn't look like they were doing anything. Not even Kanzaka was above it. God, he hated politicians.

"Sir, I-" Yamaki began, but Kanzaka cut him off again.

"Yamaki, I'm not calling you for your input. The decision's already made. I just wanted you to understand why it was necessary. Start the program as soon as it's operational. Understood?"

Yamaki grimaced. "Understood." Kanzaka hung up. Yamaki sat there for several seconds before slamming the phone back into the receiver.

* * *

A/N: Kazu and Kenta are fun to write. Have I mentioned that? Suzie too, in a challenging sort of way.

Oh, and in case you're wondering about the "Day 2" stuff: that indicates how many days after the movie's events we're at (with Day 1 being the initial Parasimon attack). I'm putting it in as much for my benefit as for yours. There are at least three different storylines going on at once right now, depending on how you count (one with Rika and Takato, one with Ryo and co., and one at Hypnos), with even more to come, most likely. Keeping track of everything, and remembering what events happen when in relation to the other plotlines, is becoming really difficult for me. My current manuscript for this fic is so long that I had to create a second Word Document with summaries of everything that's happened so far. The "Day 2" thing helps me (and hopefully you readers) keep track when different events are happening.

And yes, I realize that the events of Day 2 technically started with the last part of Chapter 4. I posted that before I decided to keep track of Days.

Also, now is as good a time as any to talk about one major character who will probably not be appearing again in this fic: Beelzemon. He was in the movie, so he'd already shown up in Chapter 1. And originally, he was going to show up, very briefly, in this chapter: he would meet up with Ryo et al at the sewer entrance, and then, when the battle started, he would run off to fight on his own. But the problem is that I have no freaking clue how to write the guy. So in the end, I decided to cut him out. I only have a rough, in-story explanation for why he's not help Ryo and co., and it may change. Currently, what I'm going with is that Ai and Mako's family were evacuated somewhere fairly distant from Tokyo (perhaps Osaka or Kyoto); far enough away that the three of them can't easily make it back to Tokyo without help from their parents

And finally, Digimon Xros Wars (aka season 6) has started airing! So far it's only airing in Japan, and it'll probably be awhile before the dub comes out, but you can find subs online (oh, and FYI it's pronounced "Cross Wars"). So far it's been pretty enjoyable. Was going to say more, but the author's note wound up insanely long.

As always, R&R!


End file.
